Here's the reason why:
Berry: Warriors, T&TFF must settle dispute
Ian Prescott iprescott@trinidadexpress.com
Tuesday, May 1st 2007
ENGLISHMAN Mike Berry, agent for several Trinidad and Tobago footballers based in Britain, said egos and wallets should be put aside and it is time for the national players and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) to return to the bargaining table and settle their current impasse.
The T&TFF and some players on the T&T squad at the 2006 World Cup are involved in a dispute over World Cup profits, resulting in the Federation excluding most of them from the training squad for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup after the players threatened to take legal action.
But Berry thinks that both sides should compromise and settle the dispute quickly.
"The solution to this is simple...get back to the negotiating table, put forward proposals for what you want and reach a compromise on something," he told the Express yesterday.
Berry is agent for T&T's Britain-based Soca Warriors including Carlos Edwards, Dennis Lawrence, Clayton Ince, Josh Johnson, Hector Sam and Jason Scotland. He was also a T&TFF consultant for the Soca Warriors during their World Cup campaign and said he was present at all the meetings between the two parties. As a result, Berry said he had a unique perspective about where the dispute arose.
"After initial negotiations between the T&TFF and the players representatives Dennis Lawrence and Stern John, it was agreed that the rest of the players committee would be consulted and Dennis and Stern would return to the negotiating table with a suggested settlement figure. The main area of contention was the provision for some 2010 World Cup expenditure out of the 2006 sponsorship monies. The proposed second meeting never transpired and the T&TFF were served with legal notice.
"This is the real reason for the current stalemate and it's a great shame for T&T football. In my opinion, the players are duty-bound to at least return to the negotiating table, which was initially promised, and I am sure the matter could be quickly resolved to everyone's satisfaction."
Berry thinks that the money in question is a minimal sum and the matter should be settled. He also gave his account of some of the issues which eventually led to the dispute.
"Firstly, the T&TFF have consistently agreed to negotiate an amicable settlement, even going back to the meeting in London with the whole squad present and also Messrs (Jack) Warner, (Richard) Groden, (Bruce) Aannesen and myself. At that meeting, everything that the players asked for was granted, including a 30 per cent share of all sponsorship receipts.
"Also agreed was a substantial qualifying bonus for the squad and many other selected players who contributed previously, which has since been paid.
"Secondly, it was Mr Warner himself who agreed to increase the agreed 30 per cent to 50 per cent as a reward for the superb performance against Sweden. In fact, he was so delighted he personally visited the team's training camp to inform them of his decision, which delighted everybody.
"It is important to note that the players have, rightly, already received substantial payments from the T&TFF and Government and, in comparison, this argument is over a relatively small amount of money, but is causing so much damage to T&T football. My advice is to put egos to one side and sort this out sooner rather than later and let's all get back to putting the Soca Warriors back on the global map for the right reasons...glory and exciting football," said Berry.
