Fenwick denies racist abuse...Jabloteh accuse McComie of 'unbecoming conduct'Lasana Liburd Â
Tuesday, November 6th 2007
CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh coach Terry Fenwick will soon appear before the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League disciplinary committee to hear the latest and possibly most serious charge levelled at him.
Fenwick, a former England World Cup player and 2002 T&T Pro League Coach of the Year, was accused of using a racist remark against Bmobile Joe Public and national youth team coach Michael McComie last Friday in a heated confrontation that followed the Toyota Classic final, which Public won 2-1 with a stoppage-time winner.
McComie, who was Pro League 2006 Player of the Year, complained to match commissioner Norris Ferguson of the alleged racist abuse from Fenwick and repeated his claim to the media after the match.
Fenwick denied McComie's accusation while Jabloteh claimed to be formulating an official complaint against the Public coach even before Ferguson's report reached the Pro League head office.
Jabloteh's position, which was reiterated by club chairman Jerry Hosepedales, is that Public allegedly brought the game into disrepute by entering Fenwick's technical area to taunt him on Friday night and routinely slandering the character of their English coach in the national media.
McComie mentioned, in a live television interview, that Fenwick was once charged for drunk driving and pointed to his less than stellar disciplinary record as player and coach as part of his reason for refusing to help the work permit application of Jabloteh starlet, Lester Peltier, three months ago.
He described Fenwick's coaching as "weak" after Friday's win.
"His coaching is very much like the way he played when he played [for] England," McComie told CCN TV6, "when he was the seventh man being passed by (Diego) Maradona--weak!"
Hospedales said the club is fed up with McComie's supposed struggle for national recognition.
"I think McComie's constant attacks on Fenwick are unbecoming," said Hospedales. "McComie has been on national television excoriating Fenwick's character for months. He is bringing the league into disrepute.
"One must have a professional respect for your colleagues. You might not agree with tactics and so on but that doesn't give you a right to call someone a criminal."
He also blasted Public for allegedly entering the Jabloteh technical area during and after the match. Public's Colombian goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa was also accused of spraying Fenwick with liquid from a water bottle.
"The way Joe Public went in front of Jabloteh looked terrible," he said. "There must be a code of conduct for these teams. This couldn't happen abroad because even if you put a finger in the air towards opposing fans you can be disciplined for it.
"There must be a standard of conduct as to where you can celebrate and where you cannot."
Fenwick infamously reacted violently to a similar intrusion by Vibe CT 105 W Connection star Gefferson Goulart, two years ago, in a First Citizens Cup final loss, and felt that Public tried to goad him into a similar response last week. He insisted that the supposed provocation did not bring an undignified retort last Friday.
"(The Public players) ran into my technical area screaming and shouting after their two goals," said Fenwick, "and I have no doubt (McComie) told them to get in there.
"They were trying to goad me into something I didn't want to do. Their keeper, Figueroa, sprayed me with water, too, yet he is always ringing trying to get a contract from me."
Thus far, the Pro League executive committee has not seen it as necessary to intervene in the feud between the clubs. But Ferguson's report will force a meeting between the respective parties and Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene is likely to stress the need for club officials to behave as responsible role models.
"The Pro League is about development of the players and the youth in general," said Skeene, "and we want to ensure that our leaders, which includes our administrators, coaches, managers and the mature people around the teams, behave in a professional, courteous and disciplined manner at all times."
It would apparently take some doing to bring the ill feelings between the two coaches to an acceptable level. Fenwick suggested that McComie was trying to drum him out of the local game.
"He obviously feels very intimidated by me because he can't do an interview without mentioning my name at the moment," said Fenwick. "McComie and (a named talk show host) have kicked me in the teeth at every opportunity. I have just left him alone because I am not lowering myself to that level.
"There were lots of people around me (at the time of Friday's alleged incident) and anyone can speak to them. In our last ten games, we have seven wins and two draws while Public only got the one win on Friday.
"I don't need to go there with him because we are not on the same page. He needs to concentrate on his club as I am doing with mine."
McComie did not respond to several attempts by the Express for an interview on Sunday and yesterday but will get the chance to make his case against the Englishman soon before a Pro League disciplinary committee.
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