Comments attributed to Anton Corneal:
“Opportunities come once in a life time and to think any former player or players are prepared to take this away, leaves one to believe their intentions are selfish and counter productive.
On matters of principle, there are often costs that lean heavily against the benefits ... but dahis just de thing, at the end of the day, principle
isn't about weighing costs and benefits ... it's about doing what must be done
without regard to costs and benefits. Ultimately, the outcome evens out the distortions created by the inconveniences necessary for progress.
It may well be that the pending fate of junior national teams are one such inconvenience. However, in absorbing that prospect, we should balance it against the sobering fact that the fate of previous junior national teams was seriously handicapped by poor administrative practices coming out of the same TTFF office exposed to the present action. The one thing is not unrelated to the other.
In this regard, Coach Corneal is being disingenuous and, arguably, protective of the interests and benefits he has acquired during various assignments and reincarnations with the TTFF.
Today the TTFF stands in dire financial straits. But, for a long time, it has been morally bankrupt. The damage done by that moral bankruptcy has had a more penetrating, more devastating legacy than the prospective consequences of a judicial action forced by the TTFF's intransigence.
Choose any chapter of the history of the world. Sacrifices must be made to accommodate progress. In the sporting context, elite athletes have missed major sporting events on the heels of sacrifice (for instance, African nations boycotting the 1976 Olympics ... the view expressed then was that "principles are more precious than medals.") Tough as it might be, whatever occurs with the junior national teams is a fruit of the tree the TTFF poisoned ... not of the process instituted by these players.
Reactionary forces long resistant to voluntarily institituting democraticizing outcomes don't get to choose which sacrifices are made when the progressive rubber meets the road.
Moreover, in the climate of governance in Trinidad & Tobago, this action against the TTFF by one of its stakeholder groups, has broader positive implications beyond football to other sectors of society in which transparency and accountability are on vacation.
Progressive people will support this action. However, those voices interested in leveraging incremental, calculated gains and losses will oppose this action and do so at the expense of achieving the comprehensive gains and personnel replacements that Trinidad & Tobago football desperately needs.
What's counterproductive here is demonising the principled stance of the 13 players.