T&T's soccer future in hands of lawyers
By: Juhel Browne (Express).
Friday, June 22nd 2007
Trinidad and Tobago's future in international football now rests in the hands of attorneys.
This is what Sport Minister Roger Boynes had to say after he held discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) and the 16 national football players who have sued the body.
"I am dissatisfied because I thought a resolution could have come rather quickly on this matter and as of this morning I was told quite clearly that the matter had to be in the hands of the attorneys of both sides now," Boynes said.
The players are seeking bonus money they say is owed to them for representing the country in the 2006 Fifa World Cup, while TTFF special adviser Jack Warner said they were being greedy.
"We have been speaking with them up until this morning. I spoke with the TTFF yesterday and I spoke with the players today and where they are this morning, the matter now has to be left up to the lawyers," Boynes said yesterday.
"We don't want to interfere too much in the business of Fifa, we don't want to be banned as a country from playing football in the world because you know what football means to us.
The 16 players are being represented by the London-based firm Athletes One Legal.
Boynes said he undertook the intervention because the impasse is a potential hurdle on the country's road to qualify for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, as its best players are being benched.
"Let the lawyers discuss it and I hope that this matter is resolved as quickly as possible because at the end of the day, you the taxpayers are paying to have your best team represent us so that we can qualify for 2010," Boynes said.
None of the 16 players involved in the suit was selected to play in the recent Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in the United States where the national squad was eliminated in the first round, less than a year after it played in the preliminary finals of the 2006 World Cup.
A report from AllHeadline News. com (AHN) yesterday said that the 16 players claimed the TTFF had offered only $1,000 each in bonuses for Fifa 2006, with items including travelling expenses and hotel fees which had been covered by Fifa, deducted.
The AHN report said the players felt they should be receiving as much as $398,000 each in light of a deal with Warner that stipulated they receive incentives that included 50 per cent of commercial and sponsorship revenues estimated at $11.5 million.
jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com