Trinidad Guardian
Sunday 2nd July, 2006
Govt must move, before we miss 2010 boat (http://guardian.co.tt/archives/2006-07-02/news10.html)
If Government fails to begin discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, on the way forward to the World Cup finals in South Africa, in 2007, T&T would have missed the proverbial bus.
Local football jefe, Austin Jack Warner, does not mince words as he tells why this would be the unfortunate result if Government does not get cracking on football action.
And Warner, the special adviser to the TTFA and a Fifa vice president, says he does not even have to be in on those talks.
Q: Mr Warner, are you aware that you are indirectly accusing the Government of conning the Soca Warriors?
A: [In his high-backed, executive chair at his Concacaf office in Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday morning]. I wouldn’t use that word conning...
Pulling a fast one?
I don’t even think it is pulling a fast one. Let me be kind to them and say that they are ignorant of the errors of their ways; also that in some ways, they have been poorly advised, and that the Minister of Sports has done the Prime Minister—his boss—a disservice.
But let me ask you, Clevon, Why did you use that word “conning?”
Didn’t you, this morning, tell The Gladiator that the players were led to believe they were to also receive house and land?
I did and, yes, they were led to believe that, and this was in the air long before the presentation ceremony last week, and no government official denied it.
You assumed that was the Government’s position?
That is what they assumed. Many of them said so and even Dennis Lawrence, when he spoke at Piarco Airport on December 16, said he spoke to the Prime Minister and he told players about house and land.
And you still don’t want to use the word conned?
[Mentally searching for the right words]. I can’t say... I want to... You see...
I find you are trying to be too diplomatic. Do you still have a diplomatic passport?
Yes? I still have it. But that is not the point. I want to be kind to Mr Manning. I don’t want to think that Mr Manning conned the guys, but if he did so, I would be the most disappointed person. And knowing him, I don’t think he would do that. But it could seem so from subsequent actions.
What do you mean by that?
The fact that the players did not get what they thought they would have gotten; the fact that there was no explanation of any kind; the fact that after eight months this event (Saturday’s programme) didn’t seem to take more than eight minutes to be put together. For all these reasons, I think the players have been left in a state of ignorance, so to speak.
Mr Warner, all things taken into consideration, starting from the day you began your campaign to have our boys reach the World Cup finals to today, how do you feel? Elated or sad?
[Brow furrowed]. A mixture of both. First of all, I feel tremendously elated in that my dream came true and has created a positive effect on and for Trinidad and Tobago.
I feel elated, because we went to Germany and were not humiliated in any way. On the contrary, we humiliated Sweden, and came very close to doing the same to England.
On the other hand, I am feeling a deep sadness [face drops], because I don’t feel that the aftermath of this tremendous achievement is being well handled and I also think that instead of the Prime Minister and his government using this situation to take the moral high ground, in some way they have tried to be very petty.
You see, Clevon, when you are the leader, you cannot afford to be petty. You have to take the high ground, and one of the reasons for Dookeran’s failure is his pettiness.
Look, Mr Warner, I am not giving you a platform to bash Mr Dookeran.
OK! I will tell you something. When I return from Germany next week, give me the occasion and I will tell you more about him. [A mischievous grin].
We shall see. We shall see. Are you saying that the tremendous outpouring of nationalism which our boys were able to whip up is in danger of being dissipated?
Eventually, it may well be so, but I think the people will continue to hold on to this precious moment for a very long time, in spite of the Government’s pettiness and the kind of barriers they want to put in place.
Look, Clevon [left elbow on his desk and pointing forward], the people demonstrated national unity and pride long before the Government, you know? On their buildings, their clothes, their vehicles and so on... long before the Government, you know?
The Government was eventually propelled into action following by this showing by the national community. At one time, the Government did not seem to understand what was being done.
Meaning?
You remember that statement from the Prime Minister?
To what statement are you referring?
What do you mean, Clevon? You did not read when he said...
...Don’t expect too much from the team?
If that was all he said it wouldn’t have been that bad, but again on Sweden, he said he hoped our team would not be humiliated. He said that [Eyes wide open].
You picked up that on the Internet?
Of course. The players just couldn’t believe it, and they were asking how he could say “humiliated.” And the players are not stupid, Clevon. The public of Trinidad and Tobago is not stupid.
In what context are you saying that?
Yes. They understand that the Government has latched on to this for the fame, but they know very well that the Government cares very little about the game.
I am feeling a great sense of being let down, because again this government has lost a golden opportunity to capitalise in a number of areas, including pushing our culture on the international market.
Why, what went wrong here?
[Leaning forward and gently tapping his desk]. I don’t want to say anything at this time, but in spite of what anybody else might tell you, our cultural presentation in Germany was a fiasco. I say no more at this time.
Come on, Mr Warner, you cannot whet my journalistic appetite and leave me hanging high and dry... Come, give us some of the dirt, please?
[Relenting]. Very well. There was no organised plan for the performers. They didn’t know where a performance was taking place. And at one particular event, there was a massive audience.
Imagine people were asking me when is Carnival 2007? How do they get to Trinidad? I had to ask myself where the tourism representatives in Germany were at this time.
What do you think was responsible for this state of affairs?
Because there was a terrible lack of planning, and you want to hear something? Down to the very night when we landed in Germany, some people did not even know where they were sleeping.
Many did not know during their stay where their next meal was coming from. Don’t ask me. Ask the performers.
And Clevon, I don’t want to sound dramatic, but one thing which would cause me grief to my grave is the fact that Woodbrook Playboyz was not a part of the contingent.
They went all over the world with the Soca Warriors and the time it really mattered most, they were not there [Frowning]. And it was pure politics.
How could you lay this charge against the Government, when Mr Manning announced he had also invited you to hold discussions on the way forward to South Africa in 2010?
[A sheepish look from the rim of his spectacles]. You mean as an afterthought... an afterthought?
Wasn’t he reading from a prepared text?
Yes. A prepared speech which, if he had it properly vetted, he would have never said some of the things he said.
Mr Warner, the Sports Minister said last week that Trinidad and Tobago must now start preparing for South Africa. Have you heard from him since?
[Scowling]. Mr Boynes is a man for the gallery. He has consistently been so. He is very good at that.
It seems your opinion of him has not changed since last year, when in an interview, you referred to then adviser Anil Roberts as the real Minister of Sports?
Sometimes, Anil makes more sense than what the Ministry says and does. Anil raised the question of not honouring the technical staff and the Minister comes and compounds it by offering silly excuses. Fibs.
What is so wrong in coming forward to say it was an oversight or a mistake? But to try to implicate the players is unforgivable.
Mr Warner, 2010 is just around the corner. What is the way forward at this time for T&T’s football?
[Head bowed and in a hushed tone]. Clevon, let me tell you something. If within the next 15 days the Government does not sit down with the football federation and get its act together, we would have missed the boat to 2010.
Believe it to God. All the available top coaches around the world will be hired by other countries, including Beenhakker. And I do hope and pray that we do not wait for 15 days.
©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday 4th July, 2006
Boynes wants urgent meeting with TTFF (http://guardian.co.tt/news9.html)
Minister says delay is not an option in this matter; needs estimate of Warriors’ expenses to prepare for South Africa in 2010
BY JUHEL BROWNE
Sports Minister Roger Boynes is requesting an urgent meeting with the T&T Football Federation (TTFF) before the end of this week to discuss the costs of the national football team’s campaign for the Fifa 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The allocation for the team, officially dubbed the Soca Warriors, must be included in the Sports Ministry’s budget request for the Government’s 2007 national budget.
Boynes made the disclosure in an interview yesterday.
“I need to meet with them before the week is over. Delay is not an option in this matter. That is why we need to be in a position to meet with the TTFF now.
"I need to put it in my budget in the Ministry of Sports now,” Boynes said.
“All the ministries are preparing for the (2007) budget now.”
In the Face-to-Face interview published in the Sunday Guardian, Fifa vice president and TTFF adviser Jack Warner said if the Government did not meet with the federation within the next 15 days, this nation would not qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
“I understand Mr Warner has indicated there is a need for speed. I have also signalled, since last week, that there is a need for speed, so we are talking the same language,” Boynes said.
“I am in the process of sending out a letter today (yesterday) to the TTFF, asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the way forward.
"So if Mr Warner had mentioned there is a need for speed I want to agree with him.”
Warner had warned that if the Government did not meet the 15-day deadline, all the available top coaches around the world would be hired by other countries, including the T&T national team coach Leo Beenhakker.
Boynes said his meeting with the TTFF was meant to clarify the exact status of Beenhakker and his assistant coaches with the national team, so that the Government would know how much it would cost to keep them on board.
“We don’t want to lose any of the coaches,” Boynes said.
“We have a deadline for which we can get the information submitted for our budget.”
Boynes said the Manning administration's football development plan, which is being managed by its technical director Lincoln Phillips, was well underway.
He said the plan involved everything the team needed, including the coaches.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning has invited Warner, Beenhakker and Soca Warriors team captain Dwight Yorke to be a part of discussions to determine the role of the Government in getting T&T to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
While Warner has since expressed willingness to serve on a Government team on football, he has also declared his reservations in doing so.
Warner has, to date, received no financial or any other reward for his contribution to the Soca Warriors' 2006 World Cup first round qualification.
Beenhakker, his three assistant coaches and the team’s 24 players all received rewards totalling $31 million.
Beenhakker and the 24 players who represented T&T at the World Cup in Germany also each received the nation’s second highest award—the Chaconia Gold Medal.
©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday 4th July, 2006
Boynes wants urgent meeting with TTFF (http://guardian.co.tt/news9.html)
Minister says delay is not an option in this matter; needs estimate of Warriors’ expenses to prepare for South Africa in 2010
BY JUHEL BROWNE
Sports Minister Roger Boynes is requesting an urgent meeting with the T&T Football Federation (TTFF) before the end of this week to discuss the costs of the national football team’s campaign for the Fifa 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The allocation for the team, officially dubbed the Soca Warriors, must be included in the Sports Ministry’s budget request for the Government’s 2007 national budget.
Boynes made the disclosure in an interview yesterday.
“I need to meet with them before the week is over. Delay is not an option in this matter. That is why we need to be in a position to meet with the TTFF now.
"I need to put it in my budget in the Ministry of Sports now,” Boynes said.
“All the ministries are preparing for the (2007) budget now.”
In the Face-to-Face interview published in the Sunday Guardian, Fifa vice president and TTFF adviser Jack Warner said if the Government did not meet with the federation within the next 15 days, this nation would not qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
“I understand Mr Warner has indicated there is a need for speed. I have also signalled, since last week, that there is a need for speed, so we are talking the same language,” Boynes said.
“I am in the process of sending out a letter today (yesterday) to the TTFF, asking for an urgent meeting to discuss the way forward.
"So if Mr Warner had mentioned there is a need for speed I want to agree with him.”
Warner had warned that if the Government did not meet the 15-day deadline, all the available top coaches around the world would be hired by other countries, including the T&T national team coach Leo Beenhakker.
Boynes said his meeting with the TTFF was meant to clarify the exact status of Beenhakker and his assistant coaches with the national team, so that the Government would know how much it would cost to keep them on board.
“We don’t want to lose any of the coaches,” Boynes said.
“We have a deadline for which we can get the information submitted for our budget.”
Boynes said the Manning administration's football development plan, which is being managed by its technical director Lincoln Phillips, was well underway.
He said the plan involved everything the team needed, including the coaches.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning has invited Warner, Beenhakker and Soca Warriors team captain Dwight Yorke to be a part of discussions to determine the role of the Government in getting T&T to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
While Warner has since expressed willingness to serve on a Government team on football, he has also declared his reservations in doing so.
Warner has, to date, received no financial or any other reward for his contribution to the Soca Warriors' 2006 World Cup first round qualification.
Beenhakker, his three assistant coaches and the team’s 24 players all received rewards totalling $31 million.
Beenhakker and the 24 players who represented T&T at the World Cup in Germany also each received the nation’s second highest award—the Chaconia Gold Medal.
©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited
encouraging...