Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => Football => Topic started by: Flex on November 01, 2013, 02:00:32 AM
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Gary Griffith: PNM spied on Warriors.
By Sean Douglas (Newsday).
The telephones of 2006 World Cup Soca Warriors footballers Kenwyne Jones, Russell Latapy and Carlos Edwards were wiretapped by the former Patrick Manning-led People’s National Movement (PNM) Administration, National Security Minister Gary Griffith alleged yesterday.
On Wednesday night, Griffith first disclosed that Jones, now a player for English club Stoke City, had been spied on by the previous PNM government when he spoke at a United National Congress (UNC) meeting at Bamboo No 1 on Wednesday, ahead of Monday’s St Joseph bye- election.
When Newsday pressed him yesterday to elaborate on his claims, Griffith further revealed Latapy and Edwards were also spied on.
At the UNC meeting, Griffith made his revelation about Jones’ phones being wiretapped so as to contrast the People’s Partnership Government’s plans for tackling crime to both current PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley’s recent derisory remarks on Colombia and Venezuela, and the Manning regime’s spying on upstanding TT nationals.
Griffith said the former regime’s long-term spying on citizens had dwarfed this Government’s controversial promotion of a junior employee, Reshmi Ramnarine, to head the Strategic Intelligence Agency (SIA).
“Reshmi was there for three days, but for seven years that PNM intelligence unit was ‘maccoing’, spying on law-abiding citizens,” said Griffith. “Ask them (PNM) that. Why is it that they used intelligence resources to tap, spy, macco? They look at your computer, look at your phone. They have the names of media people, politicians, Kenwyn Jones, tapping their cellphones.”
Making the point that Jones was no gangster, Griffith punned, “The only ‘shot’ I know Kenwyne Jones ever had was at goal. Why is it you (PNM) were tapping Kenwyn Jones for so long?.”
Contacted by Newsday yesterday, Griffith then said the former PNM regime has also spied on two other national footballers, in addition to journalists, businessmen and celebrities. He said, “Kenwyn Jones, Russell Latapy and Carlos Edwards were on a list of names intercepted by the previous administration.”
The trio all played in the Trinidad and Tobago football team that won huge global respect at the 2006 World Cup in Germany for drawing nil-nil with Sweden in their opening match, and then holding England scoreless for 83 minutes, until Peter Crouch’s controversial goal led to a two-nil win for England.
Newsday asked why the footballers had been spied on by the PNM regime?
Griffith replied, “The only reason I can think of is to ascertain the political affiliation of individuals who may have been a political liability to the previous administration. None of them had any criminal involvement.”
The three players mentioned by Griffith are at present all abroad pursuing their footballing interests. Jones plays for Stoke City and Edwards plays for Ipswich Town, both in England, while Latapy is reportedly pursuing a high-level coaching badge in Scotland. Jones, a striker, had played for Stoke, Sunderland, Southampton, Sheffield, all in England, and began in TT with Joe Public and W Connection.
Edwards played as right-wing and/or right-back for Wrexham, Luton Town, Sunderland (and Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan) and now Ipswich Town, starting off in TT playing for Patna United, Queen’s Park and Defence Force.
Latapy played for local, regional and international clubs namely Caledonia AIA (TT); Port Morant United (Jamaica); Académica, Porto and Boavista(Portugal);
and Hibernian, Rangers, Dundee United, Falkirk and Edinburgh City (Scotland).
Newsday was unsuccessful in its efforts to contact the three players, and local football and PNM officials yesterday. The People’s Partnership first made revelations of wiretapping under the PNM in 2010.
On Wednesday, Griffith accused Rowley of mouthing the name, “Colombia”, in a derogatory tone of voice and of threatening to have Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) so as to pick a fight with Venezuela. By contrast Griffith boasted of having just concluded cordial bilateral talks with Venezuela on national security issues so as to have a “proper working relationship with the Venezuelan Government”.
He boasted of the just-launched Highway Patrol of the Police Service, and the upcoming visit of Bill Bratton — the former police chief of Los Angeles, New York City and Boston respectively — to inspire local law enforcement, also noting the People’s Partnership is the only government that has ever tackled TT’s gang problem.
Griffith said the PNM Crime Plan was simply the Special Anti-crime Unit of TT (SAUTT) plus Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), but the People’s Partnership runs a National Security Operations Centre to coordinate all law enforcement agencies to work together.
He boasted of hitting criminals by intelligence-gathering, data-acquisition, crime scene investigation and community policing for the public and police to work together, and better cooperation with TT’s allies such as Venezuela and Colombia.
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I have a hard time believing anything this government says even if it true
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This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help. :rotfl:
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This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help. :rotfl:
They were?? ???
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This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help. :rotfl:
They were?? ???
Like u didn't see Rowley in parliament telling JW to resign for not paying the 06 Warriors their money.
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Why is this Politricking coming up right now ???
Sounds Obamaesque ! ;D
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That was Rowley talking coops, not the actual players.
The players dont normally talk about they political views.
In T&T they can do anything and get away.
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What chupidness is this?
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What chupidness is this?
This is the same list that the Israelis took or the 1 where d 2 Jacks on record saying that they saw their name and then say they eh see their name. Not to mention I saw Griffith said Kenwyn was spied on. I guess MI5 did it for the PNM.
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Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.
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Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.
he simply following in the AG's footsteps, but generally the country's Intelligence infrastructure has been and is being badly abused and misused by our Gov'ts
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Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.
he simply following in the AG's footsteps, but generally the country's Intelligence infrastructure has been and is being badly abused and misused by our Gov'ts
Like the laser beam in the DPP office listening to conversation.
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Newsday was unsuccessful in its efforts to contact the three players, and local football and PNM officials yesterday. The People’s Partnership first made revelations of wiretapping under the PNM in 2010.
They didn't make 'revelations', they made allegations... which they never were able to substantiate, thanks to three Israeli jumbies. Stop de shit Newsday.
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Well they couldn't tap up Kamla & Jack...so PNM went for the next best choice...the 06 Warriors...had to find out how vex the fellas was with Jack...how come they didn't tap Cyd too ....wheter true or not, damn fool really saying that in public..next big story..Manning vexed, as a tapped up Latas was singing Scotish national anthem in the bathroom ::)
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whappen, one of the cabinet ministers was getting horn from a warrior? :D
real nonsense... newsday don't have real news to write?
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Why these ding dongs doh stop the allegations and blame game and get things right. They get into power by blaming everything on PNM and then they ended up pulling all kinda inept moves to make all the allegations look angelic. U ent see enough Panty Politics to wipe nuff arses for a while
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Gary Griffith moves on PP.
By Gail Alexander (Guardian)
Former national security minister Gary Griffith plans to filed a report with the police concerning an alleged meeting with advertising agency head Ernie Ross at Ross Advertising on the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West issue, for the police to determine if any criminal matter occurred. Griffith confirmed that to the T&T Guardian yesterday.
The situation has further compounded the issue, which centres on West’s complaint to police concerning alleged witness-tampering by former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan in a defamation matter in which Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is involved. Government last week denied pressuring Griffith to withdraw witness statements in West’s complaint.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar removed both Ramlogan and Griffith from the Cabinet on Monday after police started a criminal probe of West’s allegations. West gave police a statement last week when he reported the matter to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. Ramlogan has not yet given any statement to the police, it was confirmed yesterday.
Yesterday, Griffith said he has already submitted two statements to the police on the witness-tampering allegations. He said he would submit a statement on a third matter, the Ross issue, today. Communication Minister Vasant Bharath has denied Griffith’s claim that he had met with Ross, Griffith and Griffith’s wife, Nicole, concerning West’s allegations. Bharath said he was at Ross’ on a regular basis but didn’t attend any meeting as Griffith described.
Acting Police Commissioner Williams told the T&T Guardian yesterday that during the course of an interview by police recently, Griffith lodged the report. He said Deputy Police Commissioner Harold Phillips, who is assigned to handle the entire West issue, is now “effectively addressing the matter.”
Ross advertising responds
Yesterday, Ross Advertising issued a statement on the issue, saying there had been several inaccurate reports by the media and statements by Griffith on the alleged meeting between the head of Ross Advertising, Griffith and Mrs Griffith on January 29 at Ross’ offices.
The statement said there was never any meeting between Bharath, Griffith, Mrs Griffith and Ross. It noted, however, that there was a meeting between Griffith, Mrs Griffith and Ross at the premises but said Bharath was never part of the meeting at any time. Ross, the statement said, convened the meeting as media adviser to Griffith, noting Ross had done several advertising campaigns on the National Security Ministry’s behalf.
The company added: “As is proper form, the former minister (Griffith) and his wife were both advised at the onset and during the session that the discussions were entirely in their interest and there was no attempt to change the veracity of statements.
“At all times the purpose of the meeting was to best prepare the minister for scrutiny of the media, public and Opposition party.
“It is an informal role which Mr Ross has conducted with Minister Griffith as well as many other members of the Cabinet on numerous occasions, via phone, meetings, e-mail and text messages as issues arise.” The company said it has been conducting media management exercises for over 20 years regionally with a successful record.
PM wants inquiry
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has forwarded a request to President Anthony Carmona for an independent enquiry into the circumstances involved in the Ramlogan/Griffith/Rowley/West matter, which was sparked by a defamation suit in the Section 34 matter filed by Ramlogan against Rowley, following West’s allegations. A letter to this effect was dispatched along with statements the PM received from Ramlogan and Griffith.
In removing Ramlogan and Griffith from office on Monday, the PM had expressed concern that West had not informed either the President or her of his allegations that he had been approached by Ramlogan to withdraw a witness statement in the defamation matter involving Rowley. West’s statement was done for Rowley’s side. The PM questioned why West had waited until now to reveal his allegations.
She also expressed concern on various aspects of Rowley’s position, including whether he had known of the issue when he was consulted on West’s appointment. She said if that was the case, Rowley should also have informed the President. The PM said West’s position as PCA director was compromised because of the current situation and he should immediately resign or his appointment should be revoked.
West didn’t answer calls yesterday on whether he would resign.
http://www.tv6tnt.com/news/Gary-Griffith-I-was-fired-290599121.html
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How does Gary Griffith son make a national team? This is some crazy shit. The Trinidad & Tobago football community is a joke to allow such corruption to continue. #normalizationcommittee football for yuh money. This team is missing basic tactical understanding..#bankleaguefootball #fenwickOUT
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why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,
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why is it that our players struggle tremendously to make sensible passes when we play against the united states, while they make it look so easy to tip tap around us? that is s sure sign that we need development programs where they young men needs to learn how to hold on to possession under intense pressure.
the US pressure our defense and midfield cutting off our passing lanes every time they play us, didn't anyone figured this out by now and find a way to counter that approach? they would never pull that against top teams like england and germany, not even argentina or uraguay, for they would be punished. it's upsetting to see us be so predictable where a team would implore the same tactic decade after decade and it still works like a charm, just simply bloody embarrassing.
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why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,
You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.
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why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,
You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.
look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.
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why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,
You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.
look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.
If you don’t want to argue, don’t argue. Why is it that everything for trinis results in an argument. It’s a discussion mate.
This is international football so there is no excuse for the lack of basic tactical understanding the team displayed. I don’t understand what point you are trying to make by, “he certainly didn’t make the team any worse”. If that’s your approach to international football then clearly we don’t belong there.
Once the commissioner of police is actively involved in football, only for self interest to buy a place for his son on the team who wasn’t even a school boy standout then we are ALL to blame!!!!
Fenwick is going to feed the masses with tons of excuses about lack of preparation, COVID, the ban but I don’t see with even our full team, how are we going to qualify for a World Cup playing against the A teams of, Mexico, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Honduras to name a few. I guess only time will tell.
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So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.
Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team ???
If you did then respect to you.
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why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,
You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.
look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.
If you don’t want to argue, don’t argue. Why is it that everything for trinis results in an argument. It’s a discussion mate.
This is international football so there is no excuse for the lack of basic tactical understanding the team displayed. I don’t understand what point you are trying to make by, “he certainly didn’t make the team any worse”. If that’s your approach to international football then clearly we don’t belong there.
Once the commissioner of police is actively involved in football, only for self interest to buy a place for his son on the team who wasn’t even a school boy standout then we are ALL to blame!!!!
Fenwick is going to feed the masses with tons of excuses about lack of preparation, COVID, the ban but I don’t see with even our full team, how are we going to qualify for a World Cup playing against the A teams of, Mexico, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Honduras to name a few. I guess only time will tell.
in all honesty I don’t think we should even be focused on making the world cup, i think this is where we get it wrong every time. its quite obvious that our focus should be on development and developmental programs because as fenwick pointed out these lads don’t even have the basics, and it’s the whole football fraternity at fault here.
when dexter skeene and Leary romany was the pro league managers wim risebergen the then coach told them that the league was deficient, but instead of taking it on the chin and humbling themselves by sitting down with the coach and identifying their short comings, they acted simple by bashing the man with their silly sensitivities and inflated ego.
another coach came in a few years later (Otto fister) and recognized the same faults and spoke out, not to mention that he was met with the same indignation and the usual xenophobic chants of racism and the “how dare him criticize us” mantra. the truth is that trinidadians are highly toxic self serving ego maniacs, especially those in position of power and authority. and last year was a perfect example of that megalomania both with the federation and the football fraternity.
wallace was lead down and over a precipice by his legal advisors and sancho and his crew was so blinded by power and self interest that they never tried to reach out to the federation in a meaningful way. I think it would have served wallace and co. better if they had took their case to CAS while fifa performed their coup de etet, and the fraternity should have rallied behind him on principle alone, but that clearly wasn’t the case and simply because we are an ego driven bunch.
just wrap your heads around this for a minute, jack warner could have had us on a mountain high if his interest was truly ingrained in football. We in Trinidad could have been blessed with at least five solid live in academies, we could have formed a terrific league attracting players from all over the world,and jack warner could have gifted us that when h3 had the means to do so, but no, we wanted to make World Cup every year instead of being a top team in the region which would have given us a far better chance to make a world cup every time it rolled around. very poor thinking and planning indeed.
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So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.
Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team ???
If you did then respect to you.
Dred, I think you did a misprint about Alvin. You probably meant his son. Alvin was an excellent and damn good player. In TT top 25 best players!!!!!
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So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.
Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team ???
If you did then respect to you.
Dred, I think you did a misprint about Alvin. You probably meant his son. Alvin was an excellent and damn good player. In TT top 25 best players!!!!!
Sorry Anton Corneal
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Why are we talking about a player who didn't even play?
I came looking for a link of the game to review the game and saw this and thought I was on FB on some CNC3 post where the GG-bashers reside :)
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Commissioner: My passion has me involved in T&T football.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith said he does not have a position with the T&T men's football team, explaining that he has been around the team because of his passion for sport.
Since the middle of last year the national footballers have trained at the St James Police Barracks in St James under head coach Terry Fenwick. Griffith has been seen regularly at national team training sessions. His son Gary Griffith III is part of the national team set-up.
On Friday, Griffith facilitated a relaxed afternoon at his residence at the Barracks where the players had a meal. Speaking to the media, Griffith made it clear that he is not benefiting financially from his interest in the team.
"I have never received a cent from TTFA, I don't need a cent. The same way when I accepted the position as Commissioner of Police. The state cannot afford my qualifications, knowledge and expertise in the field."
Griffith, who said it is not a job, added, "I am doing it just for the love for the sport, but there is a lot that I have done...sometimes players don't even have funds to get to training, sometimes they don't have a meal, so I do try my best to see how best I can help, but I have never received a cent and I have never asked for one."
Griffith, who believes that the TT Football Association can't afford to pay normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, added, "There are persons that are doing this for the love of the sport and that's why I am asking more persons to step forward and see what they can do to help the team rather than just to criticise."
Griffith said when this country is on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup, the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo would be packed, but when T&T are not in contention only a sprinkle of fans show up.
A report circulated on Friday that there is turmoil within the camp. The report said some players have issues leading up to the team's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Guyana in Dominican Republic on March 25. Among the concerns are that there is no clear laid out structure of play for the team and the local players are being disrespected. Players Duane Muckette and Alvin Jones denied disunity in the camp, saying they are focused on the qualifier.
Griffith said, "No one is perfect, but what is not accepted is to give the perception that there is some disunity here with the national team."
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Griffith: Two national youth footballers stranded in UK, arm of human trafficking.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says he is liaising with the TT Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee and the Ministry of National Security to ensure the safe arrival of two youth team footballers who were lured and left "stranded" abroad with the pretext of lucrative contracts.
Griffith, whose son Gary Griffith III, is a national men's team player, warned parents that agents and scouts will likely discard their teenage prospects, leaving them in the streets to find their way home, if they don't "cut it" on trials at clubs.
Speaking at the police media briefing on Thursday, the commissioner said, "This can be seen as an arm of human trafficking and it is something we need to look at." He said both the regional and global governing bodies for football are aware of this.
Neither Griffith nor the TTFA named the players or which clubs the agents tried to have them sign for. The commissioner, however, said he was made aware of the problem a week ago and the players in question represented T&T's youth teams.
"Some of them were offered the world and they were sent to the Middle East and for over a year they still cannot get back home," he revealed. "The accommodation was similar to indentured labour.
"There was nowhere to sleep, they weren't getting meals and they were just cast on the streets. They actually had to hitch a ride to London and I'm now in contact with them.
"FIFA and Concacaf are also fully aware of the situations around the world... I will now be liaising with the normalisation committee and to ensure that all young footballers (do not follow suit), because these so-called scouts and agents – if they get a cut, fine, if they don't, well that's the end of them...You have to find your way back home."
The normalisation committee, which replaced the elected executive under FIFA's orders, is headed by businessman Robert Hadad.
Griffith said the UK and Ireland are also "fully aware" of the issue of human trafficking in sport, highlighting measures taken in their respective football leagues to combat it, like the rule which restricts clubs from signing more than three foreign players between 18 and 21, along with other criteria.
"There is a reason they have done this. It is not just to protect British football, but also to prevent problems they saw with minors being abused by scouts or agents."
He highlighted an incident in which a foreign player got involved with Manchester City Academy and after failing to "cut it", the player ended his life when he was sent home.
"There have been reports all around the world of hundreds of young persons who (have been) lured by scouts, especially from Asia, Africa and in the Caribbean, in the hope that he will get it, and if he gets it, then he (an agent) would get a cut.
"But then, on most occasions, the clubs will then discard them and we have many minors end up on the streets throughout the world because of the hope and the dream to be a world-class footballer."
Griffith said a system is needed where all young minor footballers invited to trials abroad do so through the TTFA's normalisation committee to verify information about the clubs that the players may not be inclined to seek, as well as to ensure they are accommodated, fed and have a ticket to return home.
"If this is not done, this can be seen as human trafficking, because you're now trying to utilise a human being for your own value, at the expense of the well-being of that minor."
Newsday tried unsuccessfully several times to reach Hadad for his reaction to Griffith's revelations and to ask if he would consider implementing the commissioner's suggestion that minor players register with the TTFA before going for trials overseas.
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Dear GoTT,
Make GG the vaccine czar and call it. Once he's wrapped that up, there will be global warming. Keep him challenged and ensure he is not bored. That is, if he isn't angling for the presidency of the TTFA.
If dahis de case, we already know he will wear at least two hats: President and Head of Media. That will free up the Media Officer considerably.
Nah wait: Four hats. Chief of Protocol and Head of Security.
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Dear GoTT,
Make GG the vaccine czar and call it. Once he's wrapped that up, there will be global warming. Keep him challenged and ensure he is not bored. That is, if he isn't angling for the presidency of the TTFA.
If dahis de case, we already know he will wear at least two hats: President and Head of Media. That will free up the Media Officer considerably.
Nah wait: Four hats. Chief of Protocol and Head of Security.
wasn’t gary griffith an active member on this forum?
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That scenario is not nice. How them parents could fall for that.
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That scenario is not nice. How them parents could fall for that.
Parents? Both are adults.
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Griffith: Two national youth footballers stranded in UK, arm of human trafficking.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says he is liaising with the TT Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee and the Ministry of National Security to ensure the safe arrival of two youth team footballers who were lured and left "stranded" abroad with the pretext of lucrative contracts.
Griffith, whose son Gary Griffith III, is a national men's team player, warned parents that agents and scouts will likely discard their teenage prospects, leaving them in the streets to find their way home, if they don't "cut it" on trials at clubs.
Speaking at the police media briefing on Thursday, the commissioner said, "This can be seen as an arm of human trafficking and it is something we need to look at." He said both the regional and global governing bodies for football are aware of this.
Neither Griffith nor the TTFA named the players or which clubs the agents tried to have them sign for. The commissioner, however, said he was made aware of the problem a week ago and the players in question represented T&T's youth teams.
"Some of them were offered the world and they were sent to the Middle East and for over a year they still cannot get back home," he revealed. "The accommodation was similar to indentured labour.
"There was nowhere to sleep, they weren't getting meals and they were just cast on the streets. They actually had to hitch a ride to London and I'm now in contact with them.
"FIFA and Concacaf are also fully aware of the situations around the world... I will now be liaising with the normalisation committee and to ensure that all young footballers (do not follow suit), because these so-called scouts and agents – if they get a cut, fine, if they don't, well that's the end of them...You have to find your way back home."
The normalisation committee, which replaced the elected executive under FIFA's orders, is headed by businessman Robert Hadad.
Griffith said the UK and Ireland are also "fully aware" of the issue of human trafficking in sport, highlighting measures taken in their respective football leagues to combat it, like the rule which restricts clubs from signing more than three foreign players between 18 and 21, along with other criteria.
"There is a reason they have done this. It is not just to protect British football, but also to prevent problems they saw with minors being abused by scouts or agents."
He highlighted an incident in which a foreign player got involved with Manchester City Academy and after failing to "cut it", the player ended his life when he was sent home.
"There have been reports all around the world of hundreds of young persons who (have been) lured by scouts, especially from Asia, Africa and in the Caribbean, in the hope that he will get it, and if he gets it, then he (an agent) would get a cut.
"But then, on most occasions, the clubs will then discard them and we have many minors end up on the streets throughout the world because of the hope and the dream to be a world-class footballer."
Griffith said a system is needed where all young minor footballers invited to trials abroad do so through the TTFA's normalisation committee to verify information about the clubs that the players may not be inclined to seek, as well as to ensure they are accommodated, fed and have a ticket to return home.
"If this is not done, this can be seen as human trafficking, because you're now trying to utilise a human being for your own value, at the expense of the well-being of that minor."
Newsday tried unsuccessfully several times to reach Hadad for his reaction to Griffith's revelations and to ask if he would consider implementing the commissioner's suggestion that minor players register with the TTFA before going for trials overseas.
Ha
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o god, if yuh eh going and really say nutten, truncate d quote nah, it easy :frustrated:
Griffith: Two national youth footballers stranded in UK, arm of human trafficking.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says he is liaising with the TT Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee and the Ministry of National....
Ha
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o god, if yuh eh going and really say nutten, truncate d quote nah, it easy :frustrated:
Griffith: Two national youth footballers stranded in UK, arm of human trafficking.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says he is liaising with the TT Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee and the Ministry of National....
Ha
those guys are not minors who CoP is talking about ......
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Isaiah Garcia and Jaheim McFee boarded a plane at the Piarco International Airport with the intention of becoming professional players in the Egypt First Division.
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Very interesting... Egypt is definitely a step up and has European scouts fairly regularly.
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Football agent Joshua Lamb irked by Commissioner Griffith's comments.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).
LOCAL football agent Joshua Lamb says his various roles in the sport are now in serious jeopardy, following statements made by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, who likened the handling of two young T&T footballers, currently stuck in London, to "human trafficking in sport."
Lamb, 29, told Newsday that although Griffith never named him nor the two footballers, it was obvious as to whom he was referring.
And since then, Lamb said he has been inundated with calls from people in his professional and private life about Griffith's assertions.
"It has to be me he's talking about," Lamb told Newsday by phone on Friday, "because I'm the only person who organised (those) trips for two footballers (through the pandemic)."
Two footballers, Jaheim McFee and Isaiah Garcia, both of whom represented TT at youth levels, are believed to be the players in question.
At a media briefing at the Police Headquarters, Port of Spain on Thursday, Griffith warned parents about scouts and agents who draw young footballers abroad but leave them stranded if they are not contracted.
He said, "This can be seen as an arm of human trafficking and it is something we need to look at.
"Some of them were offered the world and they were sent to the Middle East and for over a year they still cannot get back home. The accommodation was similar to indentured labour.
"There was nowhere to sleep, they weren’t getting meals and they were just cast on the streets. They actually had to hitch a ride to London and I’m now in contact with them.
"I will now be liaising with the (FIFA-appointed) normalisation committee and to ensure that all young footballers (do not follow suit), because these so-called scouts and agents – if they get a cut, fine, if they don’t, well that’s the end of them...You have to find your way back home."
Some of Griffith's comments, Lamb said were inflammatory and dangerous, especially his suggestions that the pair are minors.
Griffith said, "There are two minors. Both are previous members of national youth teams, they were given the world of promises and they are now stranded in London."
If Griffith was indeed referring to McFee and Garcia, they were both adults when they left T&T. Garcia is currently 19 and McFee, 23.
They left the country for trials in Egypt in October but were not offered contracts. Lamb attempted to secure another trial for the pair in Slovakia. They were required to go to go London first, where they have been ever since.
The fallout from Griffith's comments was instantaneous.
"The damage has already started," he said.
"Fatima College called me and (said) they don't want to be affiliated with what it is taking place, so I may not be recontracted into the next SSFL (Secondary Schools Football League) season. So this situation is having a very big impact on my personal life and my career."
There are several players, whom he said, have expressed concern about Griffith's assertions.
Lamb asked why Griffith would conflate the situation with human trafficking if not to ruin his reputation.
He said while the commissioner apparently spoke with the two players, he said Griffith never spoke with him directly, nor has anyone from the police service. Even the normalisation committee, appointed to handle the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association's affairs, has not called him.
Lamb said he does not believe the commissioner involved himself in the matter out of concern for the players but because of a personal issue he may have with Lamb.
Lamb said if he had to guess, it stems from an incident in which Griffith may have mistakenly thought he spoke with a journalist about him.
"That might have upset him but I really don't know. I don't have a problem with him. I actually think he is doing a very good job as commissioner. I just do not think you can tarnish someone's character and reputation like that."
Lamb said while the trials did not go as well as they hoped, he has nothing to hide.
Newsday sought the opinion of former Minister of Sport, owner of Pro League club Central FC and 2006 World Cup defender Brent Sancho, who said he would rather not comment on the specific case since the commissioner did not name anyone.
"The football community (in T&T) has had some challenges as it relates to situation with players going abroad without proper details," said Sancho, who is also the chairman of the TT Pro League. "What I would say as a club owner and stakeholder in football is that education is key and parents and guardians need to have full understanding of any situation where young people travel overseas."
"I think it is very important that parents and guardians do their due diligence in all situations like this because I have experienced (difficult situations being stranded) personally as a player when I went to Romania."
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CoP: Multi-purpose turf to be ‘sport hub’
By Mark Pouchet (T&T Express)
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE (CoP) Gary Griffith is predicting the new multi-purpose astroturf at the Police Barracks will be ready for action at the end of this month, before the restrictions on team sports are lifted.
At the St James-based venue yesterday, the 24 strips of the turf had already been laid on the sand-based surface, covering the complete area of the 59-metre width by 99-metre long area. The playing area itself is set to measure 55m (breadth) by 95m (length).
Griffith is overseeing the construction of a US$100,000 ($680,000) 3G multi-purpose astroturf, as part of his drive to revitalise the base of sports like hockey, football and cricket and as an anti-crime move to engage more young people in sports.
In an interview with the Sunday Express yesterday, Griffith—a former national senior men’s hockey team manager who was part of the team’s 2002 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) gold medal effort—said the new turf, by internationally-renowned synthetic surface manufacturers CCGrass, will be ready for play after some additional sealing of the strips, fine-tuning of the drainage system, and the drawing of the demarcation lines for hockey and football.
“We will be also putting in bleachers and eventually lighting, so hopefully in a month or so we will be ready. I think we will be prepared to have sports played here before the restrictions will be lifted for sport. So as soon as the restrictions (are) lifted, we are ready to rock and roll here,” said the CoP, adding the venue will be a sports hub.
Also present yesterday were men’s national senior team head coach Terry Fenwick, men’s national senior hockey indoor head coach Raphael Govia, men’s national senior team outdoor head coach Glen “Fido” Francis and Paradigm Sorts and Tours’ representative Azad Ali, also a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Windball Cricket Association.
While the new turf may not arrive in time for the preparations of a handful of national hockey teams getting ready for international assignments starting later this month, in the long run it would compensate for the nearly-four-and-a-half-year delay—caused by both governmental bureaucratic processes and the travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic—in the delivery of the Trinidad and Tobago Hockey Board (TTHB)/Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT) $1.3 million turf.
That surface was originally scheduled to be delivered and laid for the January 2017 FIH Hockey World League Semi-final Round at the National Hockey Centre in Tacarigua.
Griffith intends to offer the national hockey teams access to the Barracks astroturf and collaborate with the TTHB to have some of their competition games played there. It is the same offer he has made to the national senior team which has been utilising the refurbished North Ground field that borders Long Circular Road for their training sessions.
“The reason why I decided to do this is that for years we have seen T&T excelling in sport mostly because of raw talent, natural talent. That could only go so far now. These days now when it comes to international sport, raw talent could only get you so far,” noted Griffith. “What you need is good sport administration, finance, support, training, good coaching and above all, good facilities. We are behind the eight-ball as far as facilities. And not just facilities to cut a ribbon, but proper maintenance,” added the top cop.
Griffith claimed the TTHB erred in transferring hockey to Tacarigua and had a terrible track record of maintenance of the turf there.
“This turf here will do a lot to assist youth development and to assist our national teams. Our national hockey team even right now, they actually are training on the North Ground, which is easily the best football ground in the country because of a proper maintenance (programme and schedule).
“So this ground is going to assist our national team, moreso hockey and football but also to assist in youth development. It is also going to be a centre point for windball cricket, so the more facilities we have like this (around the country), the more it will help develop our sports.” Griffith emphasised.
The CoP added that this specific astroturf was ideal for the wet and dry season conditions of this country, enabling sport to go unhindered due to water-logged or bone-dry pitches. He added the savings in the cost of maintenance compared to that of a grass field was also a significant factor.
Fenwick said the turf is a game-changer for sport locally. ”This field will play perfect all of the time so I think this is a perfect step forward, brilliant from the Commissioner of Police and I am hoping that other sports will tag on and we will see several of these pop up around the country,” said Fenwick.
Govia said it was a massive project by the CoP; that is bringing significant sporting activity back to the North of the country, at a site that was once heralded as the “Mecca of Hockey.”
“We will have lights eventually so we will have sports day and night and it’s an all-purpose surface so hockey, football, cricket will enjoy the benefits of this surface,” pointed out Govia. “So we hope that this will be a stepping stone for some of the colleges -- those that make the big bucks when they have their fetes -- they could even invest and have their own development for the kids in T&T.”
Ali said it was a blessing for Griffith to deliver such a turf for the immediate community of St James.
“Born and bred over decades here in St James, we have not ever had a windball home. This will definitely be a mecca for windball cricket. It is also going to be a crime-stopper for St James, drawing people away from doing mischief and encouraging people to get involved in sport . So we feel like this will be the ultimate windball grounds,” Ali explained.
Francis said while the turf is not water-based like the still-to-be-laid 2G Polytan turf in Tacarigua, it is excellent for the development of junior and youth hockey.
“The one at Tacarigua was put down badly and had to be re-done. It is sickening to hear about and disgusting and the sport is dying that way. This will at least bring some life back into the sport. My concern is the young people who may get caught up with the bad and criminal elements out there. So we can bring them out and get them enrolled in some programmes and keep them occupied in a positive manner,” Francis opined.
The coach of T&T’s senior stickmen said the turf will also assist the national teams at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games for the tough surfaces they often encounter in that part of the world. He added the turf will also rejuvenate the sports and camaraderie among the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) personnel through intra-competitions and activities.
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‘Godfather’ Gary supporting Soca Warriors
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
POLICE COMMISSIONER Gary Griffih has been a “godfather” to the Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s national football team in the absence of support from the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee and a non-functional T&T Football Association (TTFA).
T&T face both 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers in the coming months. However, sources indicate that without Griffith’s help, the team might have had to abandon both qualifying series.
Griffith has provided training facilities and meals, and has even paid for recent Covid-19 tests for the team, in the absence of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee, which is as broke as the almost insolvent TTFA itself, and constantly awaiting occasional funding from football’s world governing body.
Occurrences off the field have also begun to shroud what is happening on the field. Sources indicate that promises to pay monthly salaries of coaches at the end of May will likely not materialise now, along with players’ stipends for international service.
The players themselves have received multiple promises which have often come up short, and there is said to be very little confidence in what is promised to them by the FIFA committee, chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
One thing that is happening with the team is that through the police service and national security contacts, Griffith has been able to expedite the process of securing passports for some of the foreign-born footballers that national coach Terry Fenwick is interested in. By virtue of ancestral ties, these players are eligible to represent T&T at next month’s Concacaf zone World Cup qualifiers against Bahamas and St Kitts & Nevis.
Former England defender Fenwick had announced plans to further strengthen his squad after March qualifiers which saw the Soca Warriors beat Guyana 3-0 and draw 1-1 with Puerto Rico.
Recently, Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development, confirmed that Government departments had supported the TTTFA’s objective of getting passports for qualified foreign-born players.
“All the players that we have been pursuing, that TTFA have been pursuing, we have been able to get passports for those players,” Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe stated on a recent I-95 radio interview.
“As they continue to talk to more and get more on board, then the Government stand ready to continue to support and do the processing so those players will get their passports. But I know that the ones that we have pursued so far have been able to get their passports. That is the latest information that has been shared with me,” stated Cudjoe.
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‘Godfather’ Gary supporting Soca Warriors
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
POLICE COMMISSIONER Gary Griffih has been a “godfather” to the Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s national football team in the absence of support from the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee and a non-functional T&T Football Association (TTFA).
T&T face both 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers in the coming months. However, sources indicate that without Griffith’s help, the team might have had to abandon both qualifying series.
Griffith has provided training facilities and meals, and has even paid for recent Covid-19 tests for the team, in the absence of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee, which is as broke as the almost insolvent TTFA itself, and constantly awaiting occasional funding from football’s world governing body.
Occurrences off the field have also begun to shroud what is happening on the field. Sources indicate that promises to pay monthly salaries of coaches at the end of May will likely not materialise now, along with players’ stipends for international service.
The players themselves have received multiple promises which have often come up short, and there is said to be very little confidence in what is promised to them by the FIFA committee, chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
One thing that is happening with the team is that through the police service and national security contacts, Griffith has been able to expedite the process of securing passports for some of the foreign-born footballers that national coach Terry Fenwick is interested in. By virtue of ancestral ties, these players are eligible to represent T&T at next month’s Concacaf zone World Cup qualifiers against Bahamas and St Kitts & Nevis.
Former England defender Fenwick had announced plans to further strengthen his squad after March qualifiers which saw the Soca Warriors beat Guyana 3-0 and draw 1-1 with Puerto Rico.
Recently, Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development, confirmed that Government departments had supported the TTTFA’s objective of getting passports for qualified foreign-born players.
“All the players that we have been pursuing, that TTFA have been pursuing, we have been able to get passports for those players,” Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe stated on a recent I-95 radio interview.
“As they continue to talk to more and get more on board, then the Government stand ready to continue to support and do the processing so those players will get their passports. But I know that the ones that we have pursued so far have been able to get their passports. That is the latest information that has been shared with me,” stated Cudjoe.
I wonder why none of these articles and media houses refuse to ask the question about how is GG's son being called up consistently ahead of other more established names --- even those in the local pool.
Wonder how the mood of the camp is on this one. If he taken seriously?
Rough for the too to be used as such a pawn in this game. His back hadda be broad yes.
All this to squeeze in a cap for a few mins it seems
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‘Godfather’ Gary supporting Soca Warriors
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
POLICE COMMISSIONER Gary Griffih has been a “godfather” to the Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s national football team in the absence of support from the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee and a non-functional T&T Football Association (TTFA).
T&T face both 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers in the coming months. However, sources indicate that without Griffith’s help, the team might have had to abandon both qualifying series.
Griffith has provided training facilities and meals, and has even paid for recent Covid-19 tests for the team, in the absence of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee, which is as broke as the almost insolvent TTFA itself, and constantly awaiting occasional funding from football’s world governing body.
Occurrences off the field have also begun to shroud what is happening on the field. Sources indicate that promises to pay monthly salaries of coaches at the end of May will likely not materialise now, along with players’ stipends for international service.
The players themselves have received multiple promises which have often come up short, and there is said to be very little confidence in what is promised to them by the FIFA committee, chaired by local businessman Robert Hadad.
One thing that is happening with the team is that through the police service and national security contacts, Griffith has been able to expedite the process of securing passports for some of the foreign-born footballers that national coach Terry Fenwick is interested in. By virtue of ancestral ties, these players are eligible to represent T&T at next month’s Concacaf zone World Cup qualifiers against Bahamas and St Kitts & Nevis.
Former England defender Fenwick had announced plans to further strengthen his squad after March qualifiers which saw the Soca Warriors beat Guyana 3-0 and draw 1-1 with Puerto Rico.
Recently, Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development, confirmed that Government departments had supported the TTTFA’s objective of getting passports for qualified foreign-born players.
“All the players that we have been pursuing, that TTFA have been pursuing, we have been able to get passports for those players,” Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe stated on a recent I-95 radio interview.
“As they continue to talk to more and get more on board, then the Government stand ready to continue to support and do the processing so those players will get their passports. But I know that the ones that we have pursued so far have been able to get their passports. That is the latest information that has been shared with me,” stated Cudjoe.
I wonder why none of these articles and media houses refuse to ask the question about how is GG's son being called up consistently ahead of other more established names --- even those in the local pool.
Wonder how the mood of the camp is on this one. If he taken seriously?
Rough for the too to be used as such a pawn in this game. His back hadda be broad yes.
All this to squeeze in a cap for a few mins it seems
I wonder why none of these articles and media houses refuse to ask the question about how is GG's son being called up consistently ahead of other more established names --- even those in the local pool.
I think that is a fair question. I have no beef against GG. I like that he like sports and is really trying to use it to entice the youths as an alternative to a life of crime. But he is using gov't/tax payers money to to build facilities and programs. The current admin. is giving him the leeway to enact these programs. As far as I am concerns the more rec. facilities and programs to entice the youths the less mayhem in the communities. Especially the AfroTrini part. At least they put godfather in quotes.
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
nope never played in the secondary schools league he made the last under 17 team but only feature for 1st half 45 mins
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
I hope i am wrong i think he is just one of those pics
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
I hope i am wrong i think he is just one of those pics
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1399456440425431&id=100010832659682&set=a.274390912931995&source=48
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
I hope i am wrong i think he is just one of those pics
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1399456440425431&id=100010832659682&set=a.274390912931995&source=48
Situation mismanaged from the inception.
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
I hope i am wrong i think he is just one of those pics
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1399456440425431&id=100010832659682&set=a.274390912931995&source=48
Situation mismanaged from the inception.
???
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Yup I asked that also .. I doubt he can even make the starting 11 in the under 20
I have never had the opportunity of seeing the young man play. What teams have you seen him in action with? Was he a secondary school standout?
On the face of it, he has matured beyond the expectation of players who were secondary school standouts. Prior to these events the only Gary Griffith who was a household name is the one to whom he is related.
I hope i am wrong i think he is just one of those pics
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1399456440425431&id=100010832659682&set=a.274390912931995&source=48
Situation mismanaged from the inception.
???
The only "innocent" in the mix is the player.
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Actually feeling bad for all this player has to put up with.
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Actually feeling bad for all this player has to put up with.
I agree. As a father, no way I throwing my son under the bus, unless he did something real bad. But I honestly do not believe he should be on the team. What does he bring to the team. I have never read anything outstanding in the media about his prowess either in high school or youth football. U-20, U-21 and U-23 is where he should be. I am not casting aspersions on him. I definitely would like to see him play for TT. But he eh ready yet. If the TTFA/NC really serious they should build a team with him and other yutes his age for CAC, PanAm and Olympic football. Maybe the upcoming GC.
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Definitely not the players fault. Dad had created an intense persona and has himself to blame.
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CoP Griffith pulls his support of T&T men's football team
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith said he will not be lending assistance to the national men’s senior football team again after being questioned why he is supporting the team.
Griffith’s son Gary Griffith III has been a member of the national team training squad under head coach Terry Fenwick.
Griffith has been seen at national team training sessions regularly over the past year.
In a statement on Facebook on Friday, Griffith said, “Today, I am more convinced than ever, that my decision to now, walk away completely from any further assistance, support of, or with the men’s national senior team is the correct thing to do, as nothing in this world is more important to me than my family. Today, Express journalist, (named reporter), in her continued attempts to obtain an ‘ah ketch yuh’ moment, has now moved into sport reporting, and joined the ranks of the many in this country who have found it fulfilling to discredit, disrespect, and pour disdain upon my son.”
Griffith was asked if his interest in football is because of his son. Griffith said, “The Express have never asked about my support of the numerous other national teams over the last ten years I have supported in the past, nor of the numerous players my family and I have bent over backwards to facilitate, but today, her lines of questioning included, ‘Was assistance to the TTFA a condition for your son receiving a spot on the national team?’
Griffith said his support for the national team is not only in recent times.
“The Express reporter, sent me a number of questions on my support of the national team. Interestingly enough, because of her total lack of knowledge about T&T football, she obviously did not know that I have worked closely with the TTFA for the past decade under (former TTFA presidents) Raymond Tim Kee, David John-Williams, William Wallace to Robert Hadad (chairman of the normalisation committee), and assisted the national coaches from Stephen Hart to Dennis Lawrence to Terry Fenwick, inclusive of being on the technical staff and the local organising committee.”
Over the past year, Griffith has facilitated national team training sessions at the St James Police Barracks.
A TTFA official informed Newsday that Griffith “has been a great support to the TTFA and the senior men’s national team from assistance in using the fields, transportation and meals for the senior men’s national team. Also, a great help with logistics as the covid19 situation is dynamic.”
Griffith said his son has never been treated equally. “Gary Griffith III’s career started at six years old, and every time he has touched a ball in this country, he has been the victim of who his parents are.”
Former Miss T&T Nicole Dyer-Griffith is the mother of Griffith III.
Griffith said, “He has never received a fair shake, based on his skill, ability or competence. When competing for a spot on the national Under-15 team, he was told by a well-known coach, ‘Even though everyone else is getting a full game, you can only play a ten minutes to show your worth, because we don’t want people thinking we giving you precedence over others because of who you are.’”
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CoP Griffith: I'll eat my police cap if you can beat my son.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).
COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith said his son’s selection to the national senior men’s football team was achieved based on his own merit and not on the premise of his father’s position at the helm of national security.
Griffith made these statements at a police press briefing on Monday. This comes nine days after an incident involving now former national men’s team goalkeeping coach Kelvin Jack and the CoP’s son, Gary Griffith III, which took place at the team’s camp in Nassau, Bahamas.
A short video clip of the incident was recorded by Griffith III and showed a visibly upset Jack telling the player, “I don’t care who you go and tell because your father doesn’t have more influence than me in T&T football.”
Hours after, T&T was eliminated from a chance to advance to the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Concacaf Zone qualifiers.
Ironically, when the team returned home, head coach Terry Fenwick, assistant coach Derek King and Jack were all sacked for their failure to reach the second round of FIFA World Cup qualifying.
Before Griffith’s statement, it was said that Griffith III stormed out of a team-building exercise and was disrespectful because he was not selected to play in the Bahamas clash.
The CoP opted to clear the air on this matter and took aim at two particular journalists, who have “never kicked a lime” and who he said have been targeting his son to tarnish his character.
“Now we are seeing a desperate point to absorb lies, fake news, especially if it is juicy, to discredit my son because of who I am. Talks about my son being indisciplined and how he stormed out disciplinary meetings. That is a lie!
“That is a blatant lie. He never stormed out. My son was at a dinner table with the national team and after he completed dinner, he was going to the bathroom and he left. That is it! My son said nothing, he did nothing!
"The hatred and bitterness that some (people) have over me; they have trained it to my family. Judge people for who they are and not who their parents are,” he said.
Since the incident, the CoP said his son has been negatively affected. He added that anyone who holds a position of authority in T&T is “demonised and discredited” because, as a society, “we always find everything negative and see the glass half empty.”
Griffith even said that the team was not even in a team-building session but was singing karaoke.
According to him, his son played for T&T in the Under-17 World Cup qualifiers and was invited on a number of English trials with Queen’s Park Rangers, Ipswich Town, Bury FC, Gateshead FC and South Shields.
He is also the only T&T footballer to receive a full football scholarship, for two years, at Sunderland College. Griffith III, however, although making the final 23-man team for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, did not feature in any of the four matches (Guyana, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis). He is the youngest players on the senior team but is yet to make his national debut at this level.
Griffith even directed blame at an online journalist hinting that his negative reporting on the national team prior and during the tournament may have been the decisive factor in getting them kicked out.
“Every article he has put out on the T&T football team has been negative, something of bacchanal and of gossip. That has done nothing to assist the national football. Thanks to (name called), he might have very well been the catalyst towards us not qualifying for the World Cup.
“Because when you put negativity constantly on a team, that can affect players before they go onto the field. So thank you Mr (name called) for what you have done.
“Here we have an 18-year old national player doing his best for this country and all you have from persons with no degree of coach qualifications in any aspect in football wants to demonise a national footballer without understanding the fact,” he added.
The CoP also called on corporate T&T and other entities to stop criticising the team’s shortcomings and help invest and elevate the squad in its development.
So much so, that he even challenged those questioning his son’s talent for a game of one-vs-one against Griffith III.
“How many persons in the private sector have assisted any of our national teams ever? Very little! Our objective is to demonise, criticise and discredit our national teams, players and staff.
“People who want to continue to criticise my son, I challenge any of you all, seeing that you figure he can’t play football, let’s have a small goal (tournament), him against you. I’ll give you a four goal head start (to five). If you win, I’ll eat my police cap,” he said.
After the incident, Griffith said he would step away from his involvement in sport if it continues to affect his son.
When asked if this decision remains, he said, “It’s still the decision. If it is that my involvement is going to affect the development of my son, I’ve achieved, my son is just starting. I think I am the only person in this country who has been doing anything to help our national football team.
“We have so many companies, so many persons; just help. It’s unfair for me to be doing everything possible to help my country and to help the national team, and my son is being targeted for it. I think it is unfair to him. He should be judged based on who he is and not who his father is.”
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The truth about Griffith (Pt 1): How Fenwick stage-managed Griffith III’s career, while seeking TTPS benefits
Lasana Liburd (Wired868)
A journalist learns quickly the importance of confidentiality and protecting one’s source. So it is an exceptional circumstance that leads me to now reveal one such informant, in a bid to defend my reputation against a curious onslaught by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith.
In a last-ditch effort to avoid pulling aside the veil, I messaged my source this morning and offered him a six-hour deadline to recant his public position that was compelling me to expose him.
You see, my source for the story about the confrontation between then Men’s National Senior Team assistant coach Kelvin Jack and 18-year-old footballer Gary Griffith III—which the police commissioner complained about at length in a TTPS media conference yesterday—was none other than Gary Griffith himself.
In essence, Gary Griffith sr leaked a story involving Gary Griffith jr to me. Then, when he saw the published article, he proceeded to attack the reporter, me, for even giving an ear to the source, Gary Griffith.
It is enough to make one giddy. Did the police commissioner just invent the fourth person?
Griffith yesterday made three main assertions regarding the football team. He claimed that my stories are essentially negative gossip, the fall-out from them had impacted on the performance of the national team and caused the demise of their 2022 World Cup campaign, and that his son was a talented player who was suffering because of the identity of his father rather than benefiting from it.
As a long-standing sport journalist, it is literally my job to explain why a sport team is doing well or poorly. So I am duty-bound to respond to this invitation to reveal what off-field business might have affected the fate of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, particularly where Griffith III is concerned.
First, the most important question of all: is Griffith III good enough to be an elite level footballer?
I have been asked this repeatedly by readers over the past year. I always take pride in providing straight answers. But in this case, I could not.
Wired868 generally covers the Republic Bank National Youth League, the Secondary Schools Football League, the Trinidad and Tobago Super League and the Pro League. The norm is that players distinguish themselves in one of those domestic youth or adult competitions before they are considered for national selection.
Yet, before he was selected two years ago on the National Under-17 Team, led by head coach Stern John and his assistant Kenwyne Jones, I had never heard of Griffith III. To date, I have never seen him stand out in a football match at any level—nor has any of the coaches, players or reporters I have spoken to on the subject.
The police commissioner, like many proud parents, has trumpeted his son’s perceived accomplishments the ‘first and only TT national to get a full scholarship in England’, and ‘signed by Northern Ireland team Coleraine FC’.
Far from justifying his call-up, however, Griffith III’s CV has only raised more questions.
Unlike the United States, England does not have a competitive university football programme. In fact, English footballers who are not good enough to turn professional and want to further their studies seek scholarships to the US.
The reason that the likes of David Nakhid, Shaka Hislop, Brent Rahim and Leston Paul attended universities in the US is certainly not that they were not good enough to cut it at an English university.
But look closer still at Griffith III’s ‘scholarship’ to Sunderland College, which was announced by coach Terry Fenwick in a media release that was subsequently published by the Trinidad Guardian newspaper on 30 May 2019.
‘National Under-17 midfielder Gary Griffith III and Brandon Alves have been accepted in a scholarship programme in the United Kingdom with Catalyst Agency, Improtech and Sunderland College to pursue his (sic) football and academic ambitions through the efforts of the local club, Football Factory Foundation (FFF)…’
For starters, Griffith III was clearly never the ‘first and only’ person to get a scholarship. He travelled with Alves. Is it possible that his father did not know this?
Football Factory is run by Fenwick, who further declared to the Guardian that:
‘[…] Our aim is to fill that void and fast-track youngsters of T&T into life-changing opportunities for the future stars of T&T football. It is fitting that FFF, who have engaged and partnered with Catalyst Agency and Improtech since November 2018, is now partnered with the T&T Police Service (T&TPS).
‘The partnership between FFF and the TTPS will provide expertise, knowledge and experience in the upcoming Commissioner’s Cup and Scholarship Program to ensure a solid, professional and achievable program to project our program nationwide through the multiple police youth clubs.’
So Griffith III’s scholarship was part of a business arrangement between an obscure UK company, Fenwick and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service?
‘The son of Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith II was accepted,’ the release further claimed, ‘on his own merit for his abilities and commitment to work hard and smart to make it.’
Doth thou not protest too much, sir?
Coleraine FC is a top team in the Northern Ireland League, which is a semi-professional competition. Their players work during the day and train at night.
A Trinidad Express article further suggested that the team planned to stick Griffith III and his best friend Jesse Williams into their academy rather than have them compete for places on their adult first team.
Neither player was granted a work permit to join the team in any case, and they were never going to come close to meeting the criteria set by the British Home Office.
Is it likely that Fenwick and the other British middle-men involved were unaware of this?
But two things seemed odd about Griffith III’s dalliance with Coleraine. First, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) began announcing Griffith III as an employee of the Northern Ireland team from as early as July 2020. Yet, Griffith III’s and Williams’ trials with the club only took place in October 2020.
Clearly the TTFA, through its media statements, was passing off the young man as a professional player when he was not. But why was the police commissioner so certain that his son would be accepted by the team when, in the football industry, nothing is more uncertain than a trial?
(Up until last month, TTFA releases still claimed that Griffith III was a Coleraine player.)
The second thing about Coleraine that caught my attention was their kit sponsor: Avec Sport. It was the same sport apparel supplier that Fenwick’s friend and agent, Peter Miller, brought to the TTFA in a controversial deal signed without board approval and subsequently voided by the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee.
So although I could not speak directly to Griffith III’s qualities as a player, it seems clear that, whether directly or indirectly, Fenwick was involved in virtually every aspect of his football career. And that, simultaneously, Fenwick was enjoying—or seeking to enjoy—benefits from the TTPS.
The reason that Wired868 readers have not heard more about these odd links is not negligence on my part. In fact, Griffith’s professional relationship with Fenwick has been the subject of quiet probes for months. The commissioner’s knowledge of such investigative work was partially responsible for his angry rant on 4 June, directed at Trinidad Express journalist Denyse Renne, in which he vowed to withdraw all his beneficial support from the national team.
But more on that later.
Unsurprisingly, in June 2020, Fenwick named Griffith III on his first training squad as national head coach. The Englishman invited several national youth players supposedly to aid in their long-term development rather than to necessarily play them with the senior squad.
Young Griffith qualified on the basis of his selection at Under-17 level—in conditions where, with the youth team starved of funding by the TTFA, Griffith sr stepped in with TTPS resources.
However, in July, when Fenwick trimmed his training squad and Griffith III was still included, a school coach rang me.
One of his former players, he said, was in tears. The young man had worked hard and tried to please Fenwick as best as he could, only to be dropped. But what really deflated the Pro League stand-out was that Griffith III was still on the squad.
“It is not right what is going on here, man,” said the coach. “The youth man from the ghetto, giving his all, and you take his dream away from him because of blatant favouritism?”
The coach and I agreed to talk on the record. But when the time came, he had a change of heart.
“I talked it over and I feel if I say anything, they would only victimise the boy more,” he said
The coach might have no regrets about that decision. The axed player went on to regain his place on the national team and eventually earn a cap under Fenwick—something that Griffith III still has not managed.
Despite the school coach’s about-turn, I reached out to others who had worked with Griffith III. All suggested that he was not nearly good enough for consideration on even a national youth team, let alone a senior one. But none would say so on the record. They did not want the ‘top cop’ as an enemy.
Earlier this month, however, Wired868 received correspondence that revealed what it was like as a coach to have Griffith III around your team.
Ken Elie, a retired army warrant officer class one, is a former Trinidad and Tobago national youth team coach and one of only two coaches to win the TTFA FA Trophy while in charge of a second tier team, WASA FC.
In 2018, Elie was head coach of lower mid-table SSFL Premier Division team, Trinity College Moka. Griffith III, who went to St Mary’s College but never made their first team, transferred to Moka.
In October, Trinity College Moka principal Carl Tang called Elie into a meeting with Griffith. The topic was the coach’s failure to use the police commissioner’s son in his first team.
“It was a straight case of trying to undermine the selection process,” said a member of the Trinity Moka technical staff.
Wired868 was unable to reach Tang for comment. Tang is also vice-captain of the Trinidad Rifle Association, which is headed by TTPS superintendent Wayne Mystar.
Elie stood his ground, insisting that Griffith III did not have the necessary quality to play for the Trinity Moka first team.
After their meeting, Elie wrote Tang on 15 October 2018 to clarify his views on ‘our most recent intervention with one of our parents, whose child is a member of our football team’.
‘[…] The perception of fairness goes a long way in harnessing, moulding and protecting the school and sports team/s from the perception of bias, favouritism and nepotism. This, of all the external concerns, is a most swift and corrosive element that diminishes, retards and poisons team cohesion. In fact, in some constituents the team never recovers.
‘The coach is the hub on which salient decisions are made in sports. His duty conduct and decisions are always effective and just when it’s done from an ethical and moral conscience (informed decisions).
‘[…] The ‘greater good’ must be the ‘golden rule’. Generally, based on the meeting’s core purpose, aim and understanding of the parents’ desire for their child, I perceive that the ‘greater good’ may not be realised, if all conditions remained unchanged.
‘What was clear, however, is that the parent will simply be satisfied if the child is automatically selected to participate in the Premier Division. This I suppose is a criteria (sic) for the student to gain acceptance at another organisation.
‘It will require an explanation to another player(s) on the team that will question justification for the inclusion of one against the exclusion of another. Presently, in the circumstances, this justification cannot be valid…’
Elie never played Griffith III. Yet, within six months of his failure to make a modest school team, the young man was jetting off to Florida as part of the National Under-17 Team.
In between, Griffith made a handful of appearances for North East Stars in the local Pro League. Stars finished bottom of the table with one win and six points from 18 games. They scored 16 times and conceded 58 goals.
Wired868 asked then Stars head coach Zoran Vranes, a former Trinidad and Tobago national senior and youth team coach, about his reason for selecting Griffith III.
Wired868: Was that because you thought he was at that level?
Vranes: Hahaha. At that time he was very young. He wasn’t ready yet, but you know l love to support young guys. He has a football future, but needs to work hard and be patient…
Vranes’ assessment was the most generous one offered to Griffith III by any coach, with the exception of Fenwick. Still, the Serbian said the commissioner’s son ‘wasn’t ready’ when he picked him.
Wired868 spoke to several current national players and technical staff members. They all agreed with the first part of Vranes’ assessment: the boy was not ready.
It is harsh to so dissect the dreams of a young athlete, but then it is his father who, inadvertently or otherwise, chose to make the boy’s supposed talent a topic of national discussion; and a rod with which to attack the credibility of Wired868’s coverage.
In truth, Griffith III seemed to always be a distraction to the national team.
“He was normal at the beginning but then you saw the spoiled brat behaviour start to come out,” said one national senior team player, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He is a player that holds on to the ball. He has always been that type of player from the first day he started to train.
“He would hold on, and hold on. And if anyone talks to him, he would say some kind of foolishness.”
Several eyewitnesses report that, once during a training session in Nassau, national midfielder Hashim Arcia was irritated by Griffith III’s antics.
“Boy run back, nah!” Arcia shouted, as the rookie repeatedly lost possession while trying to dribble and then left it for his teammates to attempt to win back the ball.
It is alleged that Griffith III’s angry response included the phrase ‘I am a real bad man!’
Arcia, a soldier, just walked away.
“Hashim [Arcia] just laughed,” said the source, “and said ‘I am not wasting my time with you’.”
By the end of the following day, nobody was laughing.
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The truth about Griffith (Pt 2): How CoP disrupted Soca Warriors, and weaponised TTPS platform
Lasana Liburd (Wired868)
Sometime during the course of Terry Fenwick’s tenure of Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach, the players began an informal game in which they would try to guess when the English coach planned to slip Gary Griffith III into the national squad.
Usually, it was whenever silence shrouded the Englishman’s plans.
On 28 May, the players were asked to meet at the Piarco Airport to leave for Nassau and a decisive Fifa match window, which included games against The Bahamas and St Kitts and Nevis.
However, in an unusual move, Fenwick did not reveal his entire squad to the players and only allowed media officer Shaun Fuentes to forward his selections to journalists when they were already on the plane.
“I feel he will travel this time, you know,” one player told another.
And Griffith III indeed got the nod.
In the Bahamas, talk in the camp was that Fenwick promised to give Gary Griffith III 40 minutes of playing time, in what everyone felt would be the easiest game of the campaign.
Griffith III, according to a team source, asked equipment manager Michael Williams if he could wear the ‘number seven’ jersey for the Bahamas game. He repeated the request to team manager Adrian Romain.
Forward Ryan Telfer, who plays professionally for Atletico Ottawa in the Canadian Professional League, is the only player to feature in every match for Fenwick, and he wore ‘seven’ for each outing. In fact, he has played in that number since 2019 when he first broke into the national squad under then head coach Dennis Lawrence.
Griffith III, a rookie on the team who never played professionally, wanted the jersey for himself. His teammates were, at best, bemused.
But, unknown to the Griffiths, things were not working out as they intended in Nassau.
On the eve of the fixture, Fenwick consulted assistant coaches Derek King and Kelvin Jack as to which players should be omitted—as he sought to whittle his 25-man travelling squad down to the stipulated 22-man match day number. According to sources, King and Jack were unanimous that the first player to be cut should be Griffith III.
Did Fenwick ask King and Jack for their opinion on the team only so that he could blame Griffith III’s non-selection on his assistants?
How the teenager responded to his omission from the squad is now in the public domain. According to Griffith, I wrote that his son ‘stormed out of a disciplinary meeting’, which, he insisted, was a lie. In fact, the lie is that Wired868 wrote that at all. What I wrote is that Griffith III refused to attend ‘a team bonding exercise’.
“As he finished dinner, he got up and left, which is not normal protocol,” an unnamed player told Wired868. “You have to wait until everyone is finished and then you get an excuse from the coach. That night, we were having a team bonding exercise because [team captain] Khaleem [Hyland] had arrived earlier and it was the first opportunity we had with the entire squad together.
“Jesse [Williams] went to call [Griffith III] and he said he’s not coming. Then ‘Suggie’ (Justin Garcia) went and came back and said he’s not coming. Since I have been a national team player that has never happened, especially with the youngest player.”
Jack urged Fenwick to deal with the matter. The Englishman allegedly responded only that he ‘would have a word’.
The following morning, Jack took matters into his own hands and rebuked the teenager in the presence of his teammates. Griffith III replied, ‘Wham to you, boy?’ He then used his phone to record the assistant coach and 2006 World Cup goalkeeper.
“Men were in the line waiting to eat breakfast,” said the player. “It was the day of the game and things just got real tense. Terry [Fenwick] just said nothing at all about it and the mood was real heavy.”
At the time, Wired868 heard only that Jack had bouffed Griffith III on game day. That did not, I felt, warrant a stand-alone story.
However, on Monday 7 June, the police commissioner called. He was livid.
“You’re always writing all kinda thing that your sources tell you from in the camp,” Griffith told me. “So how come you didn’t write that the assistant coach, Kelvin Jack, virtually assaulted my son, eh? How come you didn’t write that he had his hand in my son’s face?
“How come you ent say anything when the British High Commission is now investigating a complaint against him for assault?”
I assured Griffith that I would check it out and I would publish anything newsworthy which I could support. Whatever I found out from my investigations, I would run.
Griffith’s tone softened immediately. He was only telling me for my own knowledge, he said. There was no need for me to investigate.
I insisted that he could not have it both ways. If the matter was as serious as he said, I would investigate.
As it turned out, Romain confirmed that the normalisation commission was investigating the incident, which I did consider to be substantial enough to warrant a story.
So it was Griffith who tipped me off about the row between his son and the assistant coach. However, sources or other external parties do not dictate the way I shape my story; that depends entirely on the evidence I unearth.
I asked the police commissioner to send me the video that his son took of the incident. He did not respond. However, an edited clip eventually emerged which showed that Jack was clearly angry but did not act in any way that could be interpreted as threatening to the player.
Further checks also revealed that, as the team prepared for a crucial World Cup qualifier that afternoon, Griffith Sr repeatedly contacted them to rage about Jack’s action and his son’s non-selection. The threats allegedly included his vow to reclaim bus route passes from the team’s support staff.
Feeling harassed, Jack blocked the police commissioner on WhatsApp. But the phones of several technical staff members were going off repeatedly.
“The man said he pulling all of his support from the team,” read one technical staff member, from his phone, “and he hopes the team lose.”
He claimed it was a message from the police commissioner.
It is ironic that Griffith, given how he spent the hours leading up to the match that sealed their fate, accused Wired868 of causing the Soca Warriors to be eliminated from the 2022 World Cup campaign.
On Monday 7 June, Griffith messaged me a photograph of Jack, bearing the caption, ‘The face of unemployment’.
Three days later, the Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee fired Jack and King, while Fenwick was sacked the following day.
Was the police commissioner, who was a member of the technical staff’s WhatsApp group, now a special advisor to the normalisation committee? Did he suggest to Hadad and/or his colleagues that it was time to dismiss the coaches?
Hadad and normalisation committee member Nicholas Gomez said, on Monday, that the decision to replace the coaches was made based on ‘affordability’ rather than on the team’s performances.
If the Soca Warriors defeat Montserrat and either Cuba or French Guiana next month, the TTFA would have been obliged to renew Fenwick’s contract for two years at an enhanced salary—from US$20,000 to US$25,000 a month.
However, there was no such extension or pay-hike clause in the contracts held by the national assistant coaches.
Neither Hadad nor Gomez explained why Jack and King were also fired while the rest of the technical staff remains in place, pending consultations with new interim head coach Angus Eve.
On 8 June, when Trinidad and Tobago closed their campaign with a 2-0 win over St Kitts and Nevis in the Dominican Republic, Fenwick selected Griffith III as an unused substitute. He had to settle for the ‘number 16’ jersey, as Telfer again wore seven.
Again, the players suspected what was coming. The coach kept the names of the 22-man match day squad from everyone—including, unusually, his assistant coaches—until they were already at the match venue.
Once there, Fenwick informed right-back Shannon Gomez, left-back Keston Julien and versatile attack Nickell Orr that they would be stand-bys rather than substitutes.
Julien plays professionally in Moldova but was struggling with a knee injury. His exclusion was not a big surprise. However, the 24-year-old Gomez, a former national youth captain, is competing in the United States second tier as a full professional.
Orr, 20, excelled at National Under-20 level and competed in the Cyprus second division this year. In contrast, Griffith has not played a competitive senior game since his stint with the struggling Stars in 2018.
Back in Trinidad and Tobago, the young talent who repeatedly failed to make Fenwick’s travelling squad were 17-year-old playmaker Molik Jesse Khan and 23-year-old midfielder Justin Sadoo.
Sadoo impressed at Point Fortin Civic and often earned plaudits during the local practice games organised by Fenwick. Khan made his Pro League debut for W Connection at 15 and left no doubt about his quality.
The 30-year-old Marcus Joseph, a two-time World Youth Cup attacker with a hammer of a left foot, was also ignored. There are some local-based players who suggest that, based on their training sessions, he might well be the country’s most in-form option at centre-forward.
The trio were among scores of talented players forced to look on from the outside as Griffith III toured with the national squad and his father boasted about his bright future.
In the age of the internet and mass media coverage, there remains no evidence of any kind of Griffith III’s football ability—other than the claims of a scholarship and Coleraine FC deal which were rebutted in Part One.
And what exactly was it like to be an independent journalist covering football during the Griffith III era?
In the past six months alone, I received one legal letter, two threats about being made ‘a person of interest’ in a police investigation and countless messages and phone calls from the police commissioner—helpful source today, furious critic tomorrow.
When Griffith III was an involved member of the national football squad, the commissioner reacted angrily to any story criticising it.
“Every article you put is always littered with negativity,” he once told me. “[…] This is why as a country we can never get anywhere.”
But when Griffith III was not very involved, the police commissioner was not only happy to criticise Fenwick and the national team but also leaked information for stories he later claimed to be ‘negative’.
‘Lol. You were very diplomatic,’ Griffith wrote, referring to Wired868’s match report after Trinidad and Tobago were mauled 7-0 by the United States.
Griffith III was an unused substitute for that match and his father insisted his son was one of the fittest players in the team and blamed Fenwick for using unfit players.
On another occasion, after I criticised the local football administration, the police commissioner had this comment: ‘You by far do the most research and get the most indepth (sic) I have seen in sport journalism. Too many of our sport reporters are lazy and […] get little other than quotes.’
After Trinidad and Tobago’s goalless draw away to the Bahamas, Griffith wrote:
‘Terry will blame covid. (sic) He will blame Hadad. [He] will blame David Williams. He will blame not getting paid. He will blame Shaun Fuentes. He will blame Liburd.
‘He will blame not getting the players who never had TT passports. He will blame [Keith] Look Loy. He will blame Andre Baptiste. He will even do like Milli [Vanilli] and blame it on the rain. But he will never look in the mirror to lay blame.’
A week later, Griffith blamed the team’s elimination on Wired868 and me.
Griffith’s constant ‘good cop/bad cop’ role-playing—I lack the qualifications to deem it ‘schizophrenia’—first took a dark turn in January when a Facebook user named Deonarine Deyal commented on a story involving his son: ‘What Gary Griffith III doing on that team because the coach got a firearm in record time’.
Griffith insisted that I should delete the comment. I refused on the grounds that it was posted on Facebook rather than on my website and I did not know enough about the matter to determine whether it was libellous.
Within hours, I received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Corporal Perez of the Firearms Unit. He said the police commissioner had told him to question me based on information I had on an alleged bribery matter involving the commissioner.
Griffith, according to the self-declared ‘Corporal Perez’, was directing an investigation into his own supposed bribery.
The lawman insisted that he had been ordered to speak to me, despite my protests that I had no idea who Deyal was and knew no more about his claim than anyone else who saw his post on Facebook.
There was a get-out-of-jail clause; the supposed Corporal Perez said I only had to say that I refused to cooperate and, since he could not compel me to speak, he would have to inform his boss that he could not do anything else. And then the commissioner would be forced to sue me as a private citizen. The officer said Deyal chose that option.
I declined his offer, explaining that, as a journalist, I did not want to be on the record as refusing to assist a police investigation—even a silly, contrived one. So since I had no intention of going to the police station, the supposed Corporal Perez would have to come to see me.
I never again heard from the supposed lawman and I have no idea how he represented my official position.
However, Griffith sent me a pre-action protocol letter next, via attorney Keon Gonzales, which relied heavily on an exchange I had with Facebook user Timothy Christopher P Nokio.
Nokio, during a series of posts in the Wired868 Facebook group, insisted that I defend Griffith and delete the same comment that the police commissioner found offensive.
Nokio: Lasana Liburd, do you think accusing someone of offering and receiving a bribe doesn’t cross a line? How about accusing coach Terry of taking an inducement and big GG of giving said inducement. Does that cross the line?
Liburd: Timothy Christopher P Nokio, did the coach get a firearm? Is he a friend of the commissioner? If neither is true, then sure. If it is, then although borderline, it probably isn’t slander.
Gonzales, acting on Griffith’s behalf, claimed in his legal missive that my response insinuated ‘that the COP engages in unscrupulous and dishonest conduct by providing bribes for the purpose of securing a position for his son on the Trinidad and Tobago national football team’.
The legal threat did not go to my home address and, by the time I collected it, the police commissioner’s mood had long changed and he was again acting as one of multiple sources for local football tidbits.
I forwarded Griffith’s pre-action letter to my attorney and waited for the commissioner to mention it. He never did.
Another occasion when Griffith’s response to my work took a bizarre turn was when he felt that young coach and agent Joshua Lamb had been a source for two Wired868 stories.
On 9 December 2020, I wrote that SRP Keon Trim, along with QPCC, was conducting training sessions in breach of the Covid-19 regulations. Contacted by Wired868, Trim, who also served as an unofficial assistant to Fenwick with the national team, lied about whether he was flouting the health regulations. However, we had photographs to support our story.
Once more, Griffith was furious—but not at Trim. He insisted Lamb was the source of the story and was engaged in the same activity, only I had deliberately left him out.
Lamb was not the source. But I contacted the coach, based on Griffith’s accusations, and he admitted to also flouting the rules. So I did a follow-up story that outed Lamb as well.
Later that month, I also wrote about friendly matches that Fenwick’s Warriors were playing across the country. The national head coach allegedly asked teams, who were not training at the time, to leave out their experienced players and face them with mostly youths instead.
When the Warriors won the matches handsomely, with Fenwick often serving as referee, the coach boasted about the results on social media. His antics were criticised by several coaches, who spoke to Wired868 anonymously.
Griffith again insisted that Lamb was my source, although I said otherwise.
I remembered that exchange on 15 April 2021 when the police commissioner accused an unnamed local agent of ‘human trafficking’ during a TTPS press conference.
From his comments, it seemed obvious that Griffith was referring to former national youth players Jaheim McFee and Isaiah Garcia, who were in Egypt, on trials arranged by Lamb.
After speaking to McFee, Garcia and Lamb, I contacted Griffith for comment.
Liburd: Can you say how you’ve assisted or are trying to assist the boys? And why did you compare it to trafficking since neither player is a minor and nobody reported them missing or anything like that?
Griffith: Oh so trafficking is only for children? Keep talking. Some fight to defend crap based on affiliation. Now my official response, this is an ongoing police investigation. You seem to have in-depth knowledge of this investigation, so you would be contacted to assist us. Thank you.
Within an hour, Wired868 published an article which revealed that it was not a case of human trafficking but rather a trial gone horribly wrong in which both players felt badly let down by Lamb.
Minutes later, Griffith wrote back: Sorry bro. Spot on article.
If the police commissioner knew that it was not a case of human trafficking—as my story stated—then why did he say otherwise in the TTPS media conference?
Within days of Griffith’s public accusations, Lamb was fired from his job as Fatima College goalkeeper coach.
Did Griffith use his position and a TTPS media conference to try to cut down a perceived enemy? How could he blame Wired868 for destroying the national team’s World Cup chances when he not only privately praised our coverage but was sometimes the source of our stories?
(Wired868 has also published several of Griffith’s Letters to the Editor, both before and during his term as commissioner.)
On Tuesday morning, I offered the police commissioner the chance to recant his statements, which impute improper motive to Wired868 and concealed his own involvement and sentiments on our work.
To rebut him, I explained, I would have to expose communication between us that would otherwise have remained private.
Griffith did not respond. So Wired868 has.
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Wow. Disgraceful conduct. As I've said before I smelt a rat when they kept saying he was contracted for Coleraine when all evidence said he wasn't.
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
What's your tie to Fenwick and Griffith? If you're hitching a wagon to something best to check if there's a cliff nearby...
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
What's your tie to Fenwick and Griffith? If you're hitching a wagon to something best to check if there's a cliff nearby...
Lasana is a magnet for pull stones. Fairly sure I read a similar lament in the past and he's clearly returned to the readership fold.
Those are incendiary comments made about the journalist's motives and public obligation.
When you watch a football match, how often do you blame the referee or the surface for the state of play?
I'm guessing you would be among the first to be dragging journalists to their demise once democracy has disappeared.
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
Did you read the article ?
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
Did you read the article ?
yes i certainly did, and it resembles all the other articles that he wrote since the days when he was engaging mr warner's attention. in all honesty i have no problem with investigative journalism where the truth is highlighted and people benefit in some capacity, but this man always seems to be on about something negative that helps no one, now tell me what is gained by this story, who wins, who does it help?
what does fenwick gun ownership has to do with football , does sit help our football to move forward into a better football arrangement? all we gained from this article is that gary was bribing mr fenwick so that his son could be capped and that mr fenwick is a license fire arm holder,and who knows how much truth their is to any of this, for all we know it just might be majorly speculative, but in the mean time we put mr fenwick's life in danger with all the criminals roaming that country.
bottom line is that how did this help our national team gain any traction, did that story lift the spirit of the lads who are down and out because their world cup asperations were dashed? it actually puts the spot light on a young man who made a terrible mistake, which should be left alone so that the healing process may begin. in reality this article really helps none of us, in reality it serves as bloody juicy gossip and nothing more. allow us to move on mr liburd after such a heart break and stop rubbing it in please.
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
Did you read the article ?
yes i certainly did, and it resembles all the other articles that he wrote since the days when he was engaging mr warner's attention. in all honesty i have no problem with investigative journalism where the truth is highlighted and people benefit in some capacity, but this man always seems to be on about something negative that helps no one, now tell me what is gained by this story, who wins, who does it help?
what does fenwick gun ownership has to do with football , does sit help our football to move forward into a better football arrangement? all we gained from this article is that gary was bribing mr fenwick so that his son could be capped and that mr fenwick is a license fire arm holder,and who knows how much truth their is to any of this, for all we know it just might be majorly speculative, but in the mean time we put mr fenwick's life in danger with all the criminals roaming that country.
bottom line is that how did this help our national team gain any traction, did that story lift the spirit of the lads who are down and out because their world cup asperations were dashed? it actually puts the spot light on a young man who made a terrible mistake, which should be left alone so that the healing process may begin. in reality this article really helps none of us, in reality it serves as bloody juicy gossip and nothing more. allow us to move on mr liburd after such a heart break and stop rubbing it in please.
What reductionist bullshit.
Unlike you - who can make baseless accusations about players throwing matches, without confronting accountability - journalists, and the subjects of their attention, are confronted with a built-in safeguard regarding baseless accusations and the truth. So, the standard to which Liburd is held is superior to your irresponsible conjecture.
Despite your budding concern for Fenwick's safety, he seems to have survived roughly two decades of criminality that haven't tempered his temperament. Seems he can handle his stories. That aside, obtaining a firearm licence in T&T is not a loose, easy straightforward affair. Doh get tie up. And doh pretend yuh doh know that the CoP/Police Service are key in the process of getting the firearm. Those dots easy enough for you to connect without hand holding?
He either received a firearm licence or did not. Not speculative. Not juicy gossip.
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More to the point, it aint his bloody job to ass-kiss the national team, Fenwick, and whoever you seem to like at the moment - especially since you've already got that angle thoroughly covered.
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In all honesty I can’t stand this lasana liburd bloke, as I said previously he loves way too much gossip and mix up. he always has a mark to buss and thrives on division, disturbances and negative occurrences. this man never highlights anything positive and up lifting, only bacchanal and sadness. won’t be reading anymore of his articles since he thrives only on creating even more hard feelings instead of encouraging healing. I’m pretty sure he’s happy the team flunk out, now he has enough ammo to write related stories all summer long.
From your statement above it seems as if you're carrying some sort of personal animus towards Liburd. You can dislike his writing and be critical of it but to say you dislike the man says more about you. Anyway, if you were to truly read his articles you'd find he is not a what, who, when and where journalist as is the case with most modern TnT journalists. He delves into the why and how as clearly indicated in those two articles.
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CoP sues TTCB selector for post on son's national football team selection
By Jada Loutoo (T&T Newsday)
POLICE Commissioner Gary Griffith has taken legal action against a former cricketer for statements on a news website questioning the brief inclusion of the commissioner’s son on Trinidad and Tobago’s national football team.
Griffith’s attorneys Larry Lalla, Vashisht Seepersad and Taruna Mangroo, of the law firm Atticus Finch, filed the defamation claim against Deonarine Deyal, one of the T&T Cricket Board’s under-19 selectors. Deyal was served with the claim on June 9.
A judge has yet to be assigned to the matter.
Griffith’s claim accuses Deyal of making a highly defamatory post under a news article on the Wired868 Facebook page about the selection of his son Gary Griffith III.
The post was made on January 27.
The article on Wired868 was headlined: Fenwick adds 8 N/American players to T&T squad: No space for Cyrus and Lobo.
The lawsuit, filed in the High Court, alleges that Deyal “saw it fit to publish” from his Facebook profile, in the comments section under the article, a defamatory statement questioning the selection of Griffith III.
Griffith contends that the “ordinary and reasonable-minded reader, upon reading the post, would have believed the defendant to be implying or inferring or conveying by way of innuendo” that the commissioner was “guilty of bribing” the former head coach of the team as an inducement for his son’s selection.
It alleges that the obvious inferences of Deyal’s post would be understood to mean that the commissioner was guilty of bribery, biased in his duties, exercised his discretion unlawfully, used his office and position for his own benefit and his son’s, had abused his power, was guilty of misconduct in public office, was corrupt, dishonest, lacked morality and integrity, was unworthy of the public’s trust, was not fit to hold public office and deserved to be condemned and ridiculed by the public.
Griffith is asking for an injunction to stop Deyal, or anyone associated with him, from making the same or similar allegations against him. He also wants compensation for the defamatory post.
His lawsuit said the defamatory words had lowered him in the estimation of readers nationally and internationally, since the Wired868 news page can be viewed by a large audience worldwide and allows anyone with access to the article or post to screenshot and share it.
The claim also says Deyal elected to publish the unfounded, unsubstantiated defamatory statements to embarrass Griffith and did not seek the commissioner’s response or to verify the information.
It also said since Deyal was a national sporting figure he knew his words would “carry much weight and would have public resonance” and would cause more damage to the commissioner’s good name and reputation.
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CoP threatens lawsuits against 3 for defamation
By Jada Loutoo (T&T Newsday)
POLICE Commissioner Gary Griffith has again initiated legal action over statements made about his son’s inclusion on the Trinidad and Tobago national football team.
Earlier this month, proceedings were filed against an ex-national cricketer for statements made on social media.
On Friday, attorneys for Griffith Larry Lalla and Vashisht Seepersad fired off a pre-action protocol letter to public relations practitioner Dennise Demming and sports journalist Lasana Liburd accusing them of publishing defamatory statements about him.
Seepersad said the statements on Liburd’s Wire868 website and Facebook page as well as Demming’s own website were “defamatory, offensive, unfounded and highly irresponsible.”
The statements relate to an opinion piece by Demming, published on June 24, on her website, and reposted on Wired868, headlined: “Demming: Today he used his power to try to get his son into national team, what will it be tomorrow?”
Seepersad said the article implied that Griffith abused his office as commissioner to influence his son’s selection on the national football team; was guilty of malfeasance; was no longer fit to perform his duties; and should resign or be removed from office.
“This letter serves to inform you that the said defamatory statements contained in the said article and the innuendos of and concerning our client, resulted in hi(s) unjustifiably brought into odium and disrepute and suffering irreparable damage to his personal, professional, national and international reputation.”
Demming and Liburd were told Griffith intended to institute High Court action against them, which would include securing an injunction to prevent further publications about Griffith.
However, they were told, as a “sensible alternative to long and expensive litigation,” the commissioner was prepared to accept, by way of settlement, an unqualified apology, an undertaking not to repeat the allegations or make similar claims, and the payment of a substantial sum in damages “to demonstrate the baselessness of the allegations” and compensate him for the injury he has suffered to his reputation.
They were given 14 days to respond.
In a separate legal letter, also sent on Friday, the two attorneys also warned Sangre Grande music producer Alan Brizan of the commissioner’s intention to institute legal proceedings against him for defamation.
The letter to Brizan concerns statements he made in February, on the deaths of Andrea Bharrat and two suspects who had been held in connection with police investigations into her disappearance and murder.
Griffith’s attorneys complained of Brizan’s initial post and a second post on his Facebook page.
Seepersad said, “We contend that your posts were the product of highly irresponsible, malicious and ignorant conduct, showing scant regard for the reputation of our client, a public official and of his office as the Commissioner of Police.”
Brizan was also given 14 days to respond to the pre-action letter. He was also given the same options as Demming and Liburd of payment of compensation and an apology.
The threat of legal action against Brizan follows a similar threat attorneys for the music producer made in May, when a pre-action protocol letter was sent to Griffith and the Office of the Attorney General, accusing the commissioner of intimidation and misfeasance in public office.
Brizan was interviewed for hours after he posted information on February 9 on social media relating to Bharrat’s disappearance and murder.
Minutes after he made that post, Griffith sent him a message.
Griffith also said he had reported Brizan's post to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), which was doing an independent investigation, and was contemplating filing a defamation lawsuit of his own.
In the pre-action letter, Brizan alleged false imprisonment for three hours when he was subjected to an interview with the police.
Griffith had also been accused of using his office to procure, coerce, and/or compel Brizan’s submission to the interview, using it as a tool of intimidation and not for any legitimate police investigation, and having wilfully and maliciously caused Brizan to alter his Facebook post and engaged in conduct designed to further intimidate the former media writer and graphic artist.
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Griffith asks for Trinidad and Tobago football support after World Cup
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)
FORMER Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith is hoping after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar more energy would be given to the development and growth of T&T football.
Griffith, a sports enthusiast and owner of All Out Sports Bar and Gourmet Grill in St Clair, invited Diplomats and Ambassadors in T&T to the World Cup launch “Going All Out at All Out” at the venue, located at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Over 20 countries are participating in the 2022 World Cup that have representation in T&T and they were all invited to the event.
Griffith wants All Out to be “one of the prime venues to view the upcoming matches.” The World Cup begins on Sunday.
Griffith thanked all for attending and took the opportunity to ask all people of T&T, that whilst they can enjoy the next few weeks, supporting their favourite team, everyone should support the Soca Warriors.
He mentioned that while the Prime Minister recently vented his concern with the demise of West Indies cricket and the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne recently boasted that we would qualify for the next World Cup they must understand the team effort required in sport.
“It instead takes a whole nation to rally behind the national sporting body and the relevant teams for them to achieve their ultimate goal, as you do not get there based on past history.”
The World Cup ends on December 18.
It is in this context that Griffith asked that on December 19 be the start of T&T rallying behind local football. He called on the Government and the private sector.
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all right I with he on this call out-