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Football / TTFF Press Conference 25/1/13 @ 2pm
« on: January 25, 2013, 08:17:05 AM »
A TTFF press conference scheduled for 2pm today at the Cascadia Hotel. Apparently to announce the Peru match on February 6 and cover other topics.
April 18, 2024, 09:24:00 PM
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Football / Is T&T sports corruption just a part of an international epidemic?
« on: February 21, 2012, 12:42:12 PM »3
Football / Sponsors Unsure About Future TTFF Relationship
« on: February 11, 2012, 01:54:25 PM »
What little corporate involvement with TTFF there was is now in serious doubt of continuing.
Sponsors unsure about TTFF
T&T Newsday reports.
LOCAL CORPORATE bodies Carib Brewery Limited and Blink/Bmobile are both unsure of their future involvement with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), following a levy order taken by 13 Soca Warriors players against the local governing body last Wednesday.
Colin Murray, sponsorship and events manager of Carib, noted, “Carib’s deal with the national team came to an end at the end of the World Cup campaign. At this point in time, we really don’t have a deal per se with the TTFF.”
However, Murray was asked if Carib may renew their deal with the Federation.
“Nothing has been confirmed as yet,” he said. “It’s too early to say what we’re doing or what we’re not doing.
“All we know is what we’re reading in the papers or seeing in the news. At this point in time, we really don’t have much to say on this issue.”
He continued, “we don’t know what is happening with the TTFF, what is the next step from the players. As a sponsor, we’re waiting to see what unfolds. And we really can’t comment until there’s a clearer picture to the way forward.”
Camille Salandy, head of public relations and external affairs at Blink/Bmobile, was asked if the telecommunications group will be continuing their sponsorship with TTFF. “That’s much too early to tell,” she responded. “We cannot give an official comment at this time.”
Sponsors unsure about TTFF
T&T Newsday reports.
LOCAL CORPORATE bodies Carib Brewery Limited and Blink/Bmobile are both unsure of their future involvement with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), following a levy order taken by 13 Soca Warriors players against the local governing body last Wednesday.
Colin Murray, sponsorship and events manager of Carib, noted, “Carib’s deal with the national team came to an end at the end of the World Cup campaign. At this point in time, we really don’t have a deal per se with the TTFF.”
However, Murray was asked if Carib may renew their deal with the Federation.
“Nothing has been confirmed as yet,” he said. “It’s too early to say what we’re doing or what we’re not doing.
“All we know is what we’re reading in the papers or seeing in the news. At this point in time, we really don’t have much to say on this issue.”
He continued, “we don’t know what is happening with the TTFF, what is the next step from the players. As a sponsor, we’re waiting to see what unfolds. And we really can’t comment until there’s a clearer picture to the way forward.”
Camille Salandy, head of public relations and external affairs at Blink/Bmobile, was asked if the telecommunications group will be continuing their sponsorship with TTFF. “That’s much too early to tell,” she responded. “We cannot give an official comment at this time.”
4
Football / FBI and FIFA
« on: December 07, 2011, 03:40:04 PM »
FBI launches investigation into World Cup 'dirty tricks’ campaign.
By Claire Newell and Paul Kelso (Telegraph).
Investigators from the FBI have interviewed members of England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid as part of an investigation by the American law-enforcement agency into alleged corruption, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The interviews, conducted in the last month, are part of an FBI inquiry into allegations arising from the World Cup bidding process a year ago, and the Fifa presidential election in June.
Investigators claim to have “really great intelligence” of malpractice and came to London last month to interview people present in Zurich at the time of the World Cup vote.
It is understood that the FBI has “substantial evidence” of outside organisations attempting to hack the email accounts of the United States bid for the 2022 tournament, and believe the English bid may have also been affected.
The FBI is understood to have asked England 2018 officials, who are not under suspicion, if they were aware of dirty tricks or corruption in the World Cup bidding campaign.
The FBI is also understood to have asked questions relating to potential offences arising from the alleged bribery of Caribbean football officials by Mohammed Bin Hammam, who stood against Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency.
Bin Hammam has been banned for life by Fifa after being found to have offered $40,000 (£25,000) bribes to Caribbean football officials three weeks before the election.
It is suspected that the currency offered to the officials was transported through US borders, a potential offence if it was undeclared.
Jack Warner, former Fifa vice president and president of the Caribbean Football Union, resigned from all football posts after an in initial Fifa inquiry report found “compelling” evidence that he conspired with Bin Hammam to make the payments.
Last Friday was the first anniversary of the World Cup election, in which England were humiliated, receiving just one vote in addition to that of their own Fifa representative Geoff Thompson.
The FBI’s interest in the World Cup election is thought to be linked to an ongoing investigation into payments made to Chuck Blazer, the Fifa executive committee member who first revealed the bribery allegations against Bin Hammam and Warner.
In his role as general secretary of the Concacaf confederation Blazer received commission payments from Concacaf accounts totalling more than $500,000 (£320,000), some of which were linked to television contracts.
Some of the money was paid into an account in the Cayman Islands, with the most recent payment of $250,000 (£160,000) made in March this year and paid into an account in the Bahamas.
The payments were detailed in accounts and letters sent to the FBI by British journalist Andrew Jennings. In August Reuters reported that the payments were being reviewed by a New York-based FBI squad assigned to investigate “Eurasian organised crime”.
Blazer has not denied receiving the payments but said at the time: “All of my transactions have been legally and properly done, in compliance with the various laws of the applicable jurisdictions based on the nature of the transaction.”
The FBI’s investigation is proceeding with assistance from Fifa, whose head of security Chris Eaton is due to meet with them shortly in New York to discuss progress.
Since the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup competitions to Russia and Qatar there have been numerous accusations of corruption.
Even before the vote, in October last year, two of Fifa’s 24-man executive committee members were suspended after being exposed discussing selling their votes.
As well as Blazer and Warner, a further 16 Caribbean football officials have been sanctioned for their involvement in the Trinidad bribes meeting.
Another executive committee member, Worawi Makudi of Thailand, is also facing investigation by Fifa over allegations that money from Fifa’s GOAL development project was used to build facilities on land owned by him.
Makudi, who travelled to the Trinidad meeting with Bin Hammam, says that he gifted the land to the Thai FA and that there has been no wrongdoing. He has sent documents clarifying the ownership situation to Fifa, which will review them before deciding whether he will face an investigation by Fifa’s ethics committee.
Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe and member of the culture, media and sport select committee, welcomed the FBI’s interest:
“I think it’s good that government agencies which have responsibility for law enforcement take the allegations very seriously and are investigating them properly.
“Fifa executives have to abide by international law and if they break those laws they should be investigated by any appropriate authority. It puts in stark comparison the arrogance of the Fifa committee who believe there is nothing to investigate at all and shows there are maybe lots of issues which should have been looked at more by Fifa themselves.”
The corruption allegations have destroyed Fifa’s reputation and left Blatter scrambling to introduce a reform programme that salvages some credibility for the organisation he has led for the last 13 years.
In October Blatter announced a reform programme but his plans have already begun to unravel. Last week Transparency International, the body that helped draw up the reforms, withdrew saying it no longer had faith in the independence of the process.
And yesterday Blatter said he was postponing plans to publish Swiss court papers that detail bribes received by Fifa officials from the collapsed sports rights and marketing agency ISL.
Fifa has been party to suppressing the documents since the court action against the officials, named by the BBC as former Fifa president Joao Havelange and executive committee members Ricardo Teixeira, was suspended last summer after they repaid more than £3 million in bribes.
Blatter had planned to publish the documents following an executive committee meeting on Dec 17, but yesterday publication was delayed because of legal objections from one of the parties.
“It was my strong will to make the ISL file fully transparent [on Dec 17]. I have now been advised that as a result of the objection of a third party to such transparency it will take more time to overcome the respective legal hurdles,” he said.
“This does not change my stance at all. I remain fully committed to publishing the files as soon as possible as an important part of my many reform plans for Fifa, which include handling the past as well as preparing the future structure of the organisation.”
By Claire Newell and Paul Kelso (Telegraph).
Investigators from the FBI have interviewed members of England’s failed 2018 World Cup bid as part of an investigation by the American law-enforcement agency into alleged corruption, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The interviews, conducted in the last month, are part of an FBI inquiry into allegations arising from the World Cup bidding process a year ago, and the Fifa presidential election in June.
Investigators claim to have “really great intelligence” of malpractice and came to London last month to interview people present in Zurich at the time of the World Cup vote.
It is understood that the FBI has “substantial evidence” of outside organisations attempting to hack the email accounts of the United States bid for the 2022 tournament, and believe the English bid may have also been affected.
The FBI is understood to have asked England 2018 officials, who are not under suspicion, if they were aware of dirty tricks or corruption in the World Cup bidding campaign.
The FBI is also understood to have asked questions relating to potential offences arising from the alleged bribery of Caribbean football officials by Mohammed Bin Hammam, who stood against Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency.
Bin Hammam has been banned for life by Fifa after being found to have offered $40,000 (£25,000) bribes to Caribbean football officials three weeks before the election.
It is suspected that the currency offered to the officials was transported through US borders, a potential offence if it was undeclared.
Jack Warner, former Fifa vice president and president of the Caribbean Football Union, resigned from all football posts after an in initial Fifa inquiry report found “compelling” evidence that he conspired with Bin Hammam to make the payments.
Last Friday was the first anniversary of the World Cup election, in which England were humiliated, receiving just one vote in addition to that of their own Fifa representative Geoff Thompson.
The FBI’s interest in the World Cup election is thought to be linked to an ongoing investigation into payments made to Chuck Blazer, the Fifa executive committee member who first revealed the bribery allegations against Bin Hammam and Warner.
In his role as general secretary of the Concacaf confederation Blazer received commission payments from Concacaf accounts totalling more than $500,000 (£320,000), some of which were linked to television contracts.
Some of the money was paid into an account in the Cayman Islands, with the most recent payment of $250,000 (£160,000) made in March this year and paid into an account in the Bahamas.
The payments were detailed in accounts and letters sent to the FBI by British journalist Andrew Jennings. In August Reuters reported that the payments were being reviewed by a New York-based FBI squad assigned to investigate “Eurasian organised crime”.
Blazer has not denied receiving the payments but said at the time: “All of my transactions have been legally and properly done, in compliance with the various laws of the applicable jurisdictions based on the nature of the transaction.”
The FBI’s investigation is proceeding with assistance from Fifa, whose head of security Chris Eaton is due to meet with them shortly in New York to discuss progress.
Since the award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup competitions to Russia and Qatar there have been numerous accusations of corruption.
Even before the vote, in October last year, two of Fifa’s 24-man executive committee members were suspended after being exposed discussing selling their votes.
As well as Blazer and Warner, a further 16 Caribbean football officials have been sanctioned for their involvement in the Trinidad bribes meeting.
Another executive committee member, Worawi Makudi of Thailand, is also facing investigation by Fifa over allegations that money from Fifa’s GOAL development project was used to build facilities on land owned by him.
Makudi, who travelled to the Trinidad meeting with Bin Hammam, says that he gifted the land to the Thai FA and that there has been no wrongdoing. He has sent documents clarifying the ownership situation to Fifa, which will review them before deciding whether he will face an investigation by Fifa’s ethics committee.
Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe and member of the culture, media and sport select committee, welcomed the FBI’s interest:
“I think it’s good that government agencies which have responsibility for law enforcement take the allegations very seriously and are investigating them properly.
“Fifa executives have to abide by international law and if they break those laws they should be investigated by any appropriate authority. It puts in stark comparison the arrogance of the Fifa committee who believe there is nothing to investigate at all and shows there are maybe lots of issues which should have been looked at more by Fifa themselves.”
The corruption allegations have destroyed Fifa’s reputation and left Blatter scrambling to introduce a reform programme that salvages some credibility for the organisation he has led for the last 13 years.
In October Blatter announced a reform programme but his plans have already begun to unravel. Last week Transparency International, the body that helped draw up the reforms, withdrew saying it no longer had faith in the independence of the process.
And yesterday Blatter said he was postponing plans to publish Swiss court papers that detail bribes received by Fifa officials from the collapsed sports rights and marketing agency ISL.
Fifa has been party to suppressing the documents since the court action against the officials, named by the BBC as former Fifa president Joao Havelange and executive committee members Ricardo Teixeira, was suspended last summer after they repaid more than £3 million in bribes.
Blatter had planned to publish the documents following an executive committee meeting on Dec 17, but yesterday publication was delayed because of legal objections from one of the parties.
“It was my strong will to make the ISL file fully transparent [on Dec 17]. I have now been advised that as a result of the objection of a third party to such transparency it will take more time to overcome the respective legal hurdles,” he said.
“This does not change my stance at all. I remain fully committed to publishing the files as soon as possible as an important part of my many reform plans for Fifa, which include handling the past as well as preparing the future structure of the organisation.”
5
Football / FIFA terminates 2014 World Cup TV deal linked to Jack Warner
« on: September 08, 2011, 12:30:19 PM »
FIFA terminates 2014 World Cup TV deal linked to Jack Warner
guardian.co.uk
Fifa have terminated a multimillion-pound 2014 World Cup TV deal after discovering the rights had been sub-licensed to a company owned by the controversial Jack Warner.
The agreement with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has been brought to an end after Fifa told the organisation they had not approved the sub-licensing deal with JD International (JDI), owned by the former Fifa vice-president Warner.
Warner, who was at that time also the CFU's president, sold the rights to the Jamaica-based cable TV station SportsMax in 2007 for a fee reported to be between $18m and $20m, though that included the 2010 World Cup too.
Fifa were also owed several payments dating back to 2009 for the rights, which covered 29 Caribbean countries.
Warner resigned from all football activities in June, a month after being charged with bribery by Fifa, who then dropped their investigation saying they no longer had jurisdiction over the Trinidadian.
Fifa have sent a letter to the CFU saying they have "only recently become aware" of the sub-licensing agreement, as well as detailing the missed payments, and terminating the contract.
Warner has claimed that Fifa's action is "designed to go after me" and that he was shocked that the CFU had been targeted.
Fifa said in a statement to the Press Association: "The CFU was a media rights licensee for Fifa events in selected territories in the Caribbean.
"However, the CFU is no longer a media rights licensee of Fifa. Fifa has secured good coverage in the region directly, but has still not finalised any announcement."
The Conservative MP Damian Collins, who is campaigning for Fifa reforms, said Warner's involvement pointed to a clear conflict of interest.
The initial contract with the CFU was agreed in 2005 giving the organisation the rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for countries in the Caribbean. The CFU, headed by Warner, sub-licensed the rights to his company JDI. In 2007, JDI sold on those rights to SportsMax.
Fifa have said they had not approved the sub-licensing and had only become aware of it recently, but there was no secrecy about Warner's involvement.
Indeed he held a photo opportunity with SportsMax executives to announce the deal. SportsMax's website said Warner "negotiated the deal on behalf of JDI" and "in his capacity as president of the CFU".
Collins, who sits on the culture, media and sport committee, said the reforms to be announced by the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, needed to address conflicts of interest.
He said: "There should be a very strict code where members of Fifa's executive committee have to declare all their financial interests. If it look like senior officials are making money on the side as a result of their role in football, that is plainly wrong.
"For someone who has responsibility for the game of football to be making money out of the exploitation of that game cannot be right."
Warner's close connections to the television rights in the Caribbean were also revealed by the former FA chairman Lord Triesman in his claims about improper approaches during England's 2018 World Cup bid – Triesman alleged Warner asked for $500,000 to be channelled through him to buy the television rights to show the 2010 World Cup on big screens in earthquake-hit Haiti.
Warner said Fifa's action against the CFU was a publicity stunt. He told the Press Association: "Such ignoble pursuit has nothing to do with the cleansing of corruption within the Fifa but rather to offer the perception of an aura of cleansing within the Fifa. The matter is designed to go after me … and is now with the CFU's Swiss lawyers."
guardian.co.uk
Fifa have terminated a multimillion-pound 2014 World Cup TV deal after discovering the rights had been sub-licensed to a company owned by the controversial Jack Warner.
The agreement with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has been brought to an end after Fifa told the organisation they had not approved the sub-licensing deal with JD International (JDI), owned by the former Fifa vice-president Warner.
Warner, who was at that time also the CFU's president, sold the rights to the Jamaica-based cable TV station SportsMax in 2007 for a fee reported to be between $18m and $20m, though that included the 2010 World Cup too.
Fifa were also owed several payments dating back to 2009 for the rights, which covered 29 Caribbean countries.
Warner resigned from all football activities in June, a month after being charged with bribery by Fifa, who then dropped their investigation saying they no longer had jurisdiction over the Trinidadian.
Fifa have sent a letter to the CFU saying they have "only recently become aware" of the sub-licensing agreement, as well as detailing the missed payments, and terminating the contract.
Warner has claimed that Fifa's action is "designed to go after me" and that he was shocked that the CFU had been targeted.
Fifa said in a statement to the Press Association: "The CFU was a media rights licensee for Fifa events in selected territories in the Caribbean.
"However, the CFU is no longer a media rights licensee of Fifa. Fifa has secured good coverage in the region directly, but has still not finalised any announcement."
The Conservative MP Damian Collins, who is campaigning for Fifa reforms, said Warner's involvement pointed to a clear conflict of interest.
The initial contract with the CFU was agreed in 2005 giving the organisation the rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for countries in the Caribbean. The CFU, headed by Warner, sub-licensed the rights to his company JDI. In 2007, JDI sold on those rights to SportsMax.
Fifa have said they had not approved the sub-licensing and had only become aware of it recently, but there was no secrecy about Warner's involvement.
Indeed he held a photo opportunity with SportsMax executives to announce the deal. SportsMax's website said Warner "negotiated the deal on behalf of JDI" and "in his capacity as president of the CFU".
Collins, who sits on the culture, media and sport committee, said the reforms to be announced by the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, needed to address conflicts of interest.
He said: "There should be a very strict code where members of Fifa's executive committee have to declare all their financial interests. If it look like senior officials are making money on the side as a result of their role in football, that is plainly wrong.
"For someone who has responsibility for the game of football to be making money out of the exploitation of that game cannot be right."
Warner's close connections to the television rights in the Caribbean were also revealed by the former FA chairman Lord Triesman in his claims about improper approaches during England's 2018 World Cup bid – Triesman alleged Warner asked for $500,000 to be channelled through him to buy the television rights to show the 2010 World Cup on big screens in earthquake-hit Haiti.
Warner said Fifa's action against the CFU was a publicity stunt. He told the Press Association: "Such ignoble pursuit has nothing to do with the cleansing of corruption within the Fifa but rather to offer the perception of an aura of cleansing within the Fifa. The matter is designed to go after me … and is now with the CFU's Swiss lawyers."
6
Football / Ombudsman for TTFF?
« on: February 27, 2011, 01:07:02 PM »
Is it time for the judge to assign an Ombudsman to the TTFF to ensure best practices in sports administration are followed? Who would be a good candidate?
8
Football / Findley invited to US training camp
« on: October 09, 2007, 05:06:33 PM »
USA Training Roster Named
U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has invited 21 players to training camp prior to the Switzerland friendly next Wednesday in Basel. The final game-day roster will be unveiled early next week. Some intriguing selections, indeed. Nice to see Robbie Findley and Maurice Edu, as well as several U-20 lads, get a look.
GOALKEEPERS: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tally Hall (Esbjerg), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake).
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jay Demerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Steve Purdy (1860 Munich).
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Danny Szetela (Racing Santander).
FORWARDS: Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburger SV), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96).
"This is a great opportunity to gather many of our European-based players to have some quality time together, with the reward at the end of it being a match against a very good Switzerland team," said Bradley. "We are continuing to develop our team as World Cup qualifying approaches, and this week gives us another good chance to integrate more players into our system."
U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has invited 21 players to training camp prior to the Switzerland friendly next Wednesday in Basel. The final game-day roster will be unveiled early next week. Some intriguing selections, indeed. Nice to see Robbie Findley and Maurice Edu, as well as several U-20 lads, get a look.
GOALKEEPERS: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tally Hall (Esbjerg), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake).
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jay Demerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Steve Purdy (1860 Munich).
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Danny Szetela (Racing Santander).
FORWARDS: Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburger SV), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96).
"This is a great opportunity to gather many of our European-based players to have some quality time together, with the reward at the end of it being a match against a very good Switzerland team," said Bradley. "We are continuing to develop our team as World Cup qualifying approaches, and this week gives us another good chance to integrate more players into our system."
9
Football / TTFF Take Note
« on: May 16, 2006, 11:14:37 PM »
Italian FA in administration
Paolo Menicucci in Milan
Wednesday May 17, 2006
The Guardian
The Italian Football Federation - the country's FA - was placed under emergency administration yesterday as a consequence of match-fixing and corruption allegations which have already seen the president Franco Carraro and his deputy Innocenzo Mazzini resign.
Guido Rossi, the 75-year-old former head of the national stock-market regulator Consob, will be in charge of the federation with a six-month renewable mandate and is expected to introduce new regulations.
Police authorities raided Carraro's offices and his home in Rome. They also seized documents at the headquarters of the Italian referees' association as part of the investigations that followed after the contents of tapped telephone conversations involving Juventus's general manager Luciano Moggi were revealed.
Paolo Menicucci in Milan
Wednesday May 17, 2006
The Guardian
The Italian Football Federation - the country's FA - was placed under emergency administration yesterday as a consequence of match-fixing and corruption allegations which have already seen the president Franco Carraro and his deputy Innocenzo Mazzini resign.
Guido Rossi, the 75-year-old former head of the national stock-market regulator Consob, will be in charge of the federation with a six-month renewable mandate and is expected to introduce new regulations.
Police authorities raided Carraro's offices and his home in Rome. They also seized documents at the headquarters of the Italian referees' association as part of the investigations that followed after the contents of tapped telephone conversations involving Juventus's general manager Luciano Moggi were revealed.
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