British press slowly but steadily taking note...
Trinidad & Tobago players to sue over pay claims
By Nick Harris
The Independent (UK)
21 June 2007
A group of 16 Trinidad & Tobago players who represented their country at last year's World Cup, including seven based in Britain, are preparing to sue their national federation in a bitter battle over bonuses with the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner.
The players include Sunderland's Stern John, Southampton's Kenwyne Jones, Coventry's Chris Birchall, Raith Rovers' Marvin Andrews, and Shaka Hislop, now with FC Dallas in America's MLS. All 16 have been blacklisted by their country's FA and effectively forbidden from representing their country again.
Their legal case is based on the fact that they did a deal over bonuses with the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation - for which Warner is officially a "special adviser", but effectively in charge - before the World Cup. The players were to receive 50 per cent of profit on six pre-tournament friendlies, plus 30 per cent of commercial and sponsorship revenues arising directly from qualifying for the World Cup. The 30 per cent part was later raised to 50 per cent in a deal brokered by Warner.
The players have no idea how much they are owed - the crux of the case - because of what the players believe are incomplete accounts provided by TTFF. But deals were done on the back of qualification with companies such as adidas, Kentucky Fried Chicken and eBay. The players feel they may be due as much as £200,000 each, but have been offered less than £500.
Warner, who accused the players of greed, said "they will stay outside the pale of organised football" until they drop their legal threats. Their lawyer, Michael Townley, said: "The players are not pursuing a set figure, they're pursuing transparency of the accounts."
Warner accused of failing to pay T&T bonuses
Paul Kelso
Thursday June 21, 2007
The Guardian
Jack Warner, the Fifa vice-president, is again at the centre of controversy over Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup campaign, this time because of a players' revolt over unpaid bonuses. The former West Ham United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is leading the Soca Warriors in legal action against the T&T Football Federation, for which Warner is a special adviser, alleging that promised bonuses were not paid.
Warner has effectively blacklisted 16 players, including Hislop, Stern John and Chris Birchall, and accused them of being "consumed by greed" after they demanded that a pre-tournament contract to share 50% of World Cup commercial revenues should be honoured.
The federation did deals with Adidas, Ebay, British Gas and KFC before the tournament, with some estimates putting the total value at more than $11.5m (£5.8m). The players claim they have been offered only £400 each, with items including travelling expenses and hotel fees, all of which were covered by Fifa, deducted.
In a letter to Warner, Hislop accuses him of a "slanderous attack" and makes it clear that he will be called to give evidence when proceedings begin in the next week. Last year Fifa's ethics commission ruled that Warner had abused his position by making a £500,000 profit on marked-up World Cup tickets sold through his family travel company, but he hung on to his influential Fifa post.
