FPATT is not involved in the court case, however, 16 of its members have taken private legal action.
Just to clarify, as I understand it, should the 16 players win their case,they will be entitled to 16/24ths of the amout deemed to be owed to the players. (There was an agreement that 1/24th would be donated to a worthwhile cause of the players choice). As the lawyers are only representing 16 players, the case is only pleading for the payment of their bonuses.
However, I would assume that the arbitrator would comment that the other 7 are also entitled to their share, but, again, as I understand it, this would be a comment only and would not be enforceable at that hearing.
I would assume that TTFF would do the honourable thing, and pay the other 7 players and, in turn, those players would do the honourable thing and contribute towards the legal bill.
However, TTFF would not have to pay the other 7 players if they choose not to, even though those guys were not in dispute, and as such could be deemed as not part of the so called "greedy band of mercenaries blackmailing the federation".
From a PR perspective, TTFF could claim that the other 7 were happy with their £485 bonus, as they never challenged this figure. Of course, none of the 23 realised how much they were owed and none of them believed the figure to be as high as it was.
If the players won, TTFF would have to pay the award stated by the arbitrator. If there are not enough funds, enquiries would then commence into the whereabouts of this money. It may have to be reclaimed via law suit from individuals or businesses, so the players could still be some way off from payment.
The other 7 players will almost certainly have to bring their own law suits to claim their bonuses, and, although a precedent has been set, they will always be at least 6 months behind the 16, and their chances of getting any money owed are slimmer, and may even cost more in legal fees as they may have to "dig deeper" before they locate enough funds to pay their bonuses.
The Dwight Yorke statement was witheld as we felt it would be missed during the current press coverage of the players court case, and, as pointed out, FPATT wanted to make sure that home based players took note of Dwights announcement. The delay in completing the signing up of home based players has stemmed from lack of personnel available, but this situation is pretty much resolved.
FPATT is moving into 2nd gear, and the creation and acceptance of the organisation is the first step in a 5 year plan to put into place a self funded organisation, recognised by TTFF, FIFA ProLeague and FIFPro (world association of players unions) and able to protect the rights of T&T professional footballers and to offer support and services to its members.