Sports Ministry says no to TTFF Media.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
In a hastily arranged media conference at the Ministry of Sports Offices, Port of Spain on Thursday at 3pm, rookie Sports Minister Gary Hunt demanded accountability from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation as it relates to funds provided by the Government of the Republic.
Hunt was expecting to meet with officials of the TTFF prior to the Press Conference but the latter party never showed as President Oliver Camps said the Ministry failed to meet a request from the TTFF to be provided with agenda for the meeting.
“How can a meeting be called and when the TTFF request an agenda, nothing is put forward. This happens no where else and then we were informed very late that they carded a press conference to follow soon after. So we were expected to go there not knowing what was going to be discussed.”
Hunt later relayed all the salaries which his Government had been providing for the technical staff for 2007 giving detail figures for each staff member from head coach to team doctor. He however could not give a valid reason why no salaries had not been paid for 2008 despite Government's commitment following the 2006 World Cup. There was also no comment regarding the lack of support for two Women National Teams engaged in and also preparing for world qualifying competitions.
The TTFF also had its Media Officer Shaun Fuentes shown the exit doors during the press conference. On arrival, Ministry of Sport communications specialist Natasha Nunez expressed her surprise on seeing Fuentes present, saying that no invitation was sent to the TTFF. She was later told by Fuentes that it was only customary that any press conference relating to the TTFF would have the presence of the Federation’s media officer and at no time in the past did past Minister of Sport Roger Boynes have any objection to such.
Then while Fuentes was filming the opening three minutes of Hunt’s address, he paused while looking at Fuentes before calling Nunez to the head table to whisper his directives. Nunez then asked Fuentes what was his purpose for filming Hunte’s address and that he was not authorized to do such. Meanwhile, there were four other television cameras present. Fuentes explained that it was customary for him to be filming interviews and other related actions for the sake of uploading the footage on the TTFF website and YouTube Channel. It appeared that Hunt seemed lost to such multimedia usage as Nunez later relayed to Fuentes that the Minister was still uncertain and appeared to be thrown off during his address by Fuentes’ presence in the sitting audience.
On turning his camera off and putting away, Hunte continued his address briefly before stopping again, this time calling Nunez once more while looking at Fuentes. The former Guardian full time journalist who could also pose as a freelance journalist, on seeing Nunez approaching him once more asked whether the Minister wanted him to leave to which she agreed indicating it would be the wise thing to do at the time. Hunt waited for Fuentes to exit the conference room before apologizing to the guests and media prior to continuing his words.
Once again the Ministry of Sport has said that it was dissatisfied with the TTFF’s presentation of a developmental programme and accounted budget, claiming that they continue to be unacceptable. The question remains who in the Ministry of Sport is deemed fit enough to describe as unfit a football program that is drawn up by a Federation which has former great Lincoln Phillips as its technical director as well as Colombian-born head coach Francisco Maturana on board.
Hunt demands accountability.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).[/size]
Sport Minister Gary Hunt said yesterday that the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) must fulfill certain requirements before they receive financial support from the local government, including a detailed report on their use of over $12 million presented to the football body since the 2006 World Cup.
The Ministry of Sport claimed, at yesterday's press conference, to have asked the T&TFF on Wednesday for the financial terms and conditions of their present staff as well as financial projections up until December 2009. The press conference was called to address claims of financial neglect and discrimination made by T&TFF special advisor and Opposition party co-leader Jack Warner, last Friday.
"It is not that we are trying to be difficult," said Sport Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed. "If we don't get these things right, we will be called to account to (Cabinet) It is taxpayer's money we are dealing with."
Hunt, who replaced outgoing Minister Roger Boynes last November, stressed the government's commitment to football and pointed to over $88 million given to the 2006 World Cup campaign and another $12 million poured into the present South Africa 2010 effort thus far.
Hunt insisted that the government and the T&TFF "want the same thing" and claimed to have a "very good relationship" with the local Federation. There was little evidence of harmony between the bodies over the past seven days. On April 28, Warner accused Hunt of discriminating against the "young black, poor people" of sports like football, basketball and boxing.
The Sport Minister-who claimed to have no relationship with Warner beyond "one or two" encounters at parliament-admitted yesterday that the T&TFF failed to show after allegedly promising to turn up for discussions and to present some semblance of unity at yesterday's press conference.
The one T&TFF official who attended did not leave in good spirits. T&TFF press officer Shaun Fuentes was asked to stop filming during Hunt's statement as he was not a member of the "authorised media". Fuentes asked whether he should leave and was told "if you will" by his Sport Ministry counterpart Natasha Nunez.
Fuentes, who described the attitude of the Sport Ministry as "quite rude", claimed that the Federation did not attend because they did not receive an agenda for the meeting.
Nunez could "neither confirm nor deny" the T&TFF's claim. Regardless, Hunt, who was flanked by Permanent Secretary Margaret Farray and Creed, insisted that the future partnership of State and sport body was "in the T&TFF's hands".
"We just want to ensure the right procedures are put in place to account for all the money put in," said Hunt.
Creed said that the T&TFF was asked to present a strategic developmental plan in January 2007 but, a year later, presented a plan "deficient" in several areas including stakeholder participation, analysis and performance targets.
The Sport Minister admitted that the Hasely Crawford training pitch was in bad shape but insisted the main playing ground was fine and that both fields would be in "pristine" condition by June 1 when Trinidad and Tobago host England. He is equally confident that the Sport Ministry would soon be discussing football's future with the T&TFF and plotting for success in 2010.
On the road to ruin.
By: Fazeer Mohammed (Express).[/size]
Ready...set...pow! Now that the race card has been thrown on the table by the black football supremo, is it okay for this Indian observer to comment on the dissing of the quarter-Chinese/white boy Sports Minister by the red man at the helm of the Football Federation?
Even with all the crime, all the rising food prices and the increasing sense of discomfort over the direction we are taking as a nation, this place is still too happy yes. There are a few areas around the world where the merest hint of the marginalisation of one ethnic group in preference to others would be the spark to ignite a firestorm. But not here. Not in sweet T&T. It's all part of the picong in this mirage of a paradise, although the recent exchanges between the representative of the political directorate and the sawatees in the administration of the country's most popular sport reflect a pettiness that is distressing given the offices they hold and the degrees of influence they exert.
When Jack Warner can accuse Gary Hunt of discriminating against the "young, poor black men" who aspire to success in football, basketball and boxing, and be allowed to escape unscathed by every arm of an allegedly civil society, you know that the stench of ruin is in the air.
When the target of such unfounded abuse takes the bait and proceeds to make it clear that the TTFF's media officer is not welcome at his press conference (they could say what they want, but the reality is that Hunt's assistant essentially transmitted the news that it was preferable if Shaun Fuentes left the event last Thursday), you know for sure that there is no such thing as moral high ground or dignity of office anymore, and that everyone is prepared to roll up his sleeve, rip off his tie and get down and dirty in the swirling morass of bacchanal.
And when long-serving president Oliver Camps feels it is necessary to refer to the Sports Minister as a "Johnny-come-lately" while defending the Federation from Hunt's allegations of a lack of accountability, the cycle of childish abuse is just about complete.
This is the sort of thing we used to engage in during recess, lunchtime or after school. However, it seems supposedly grown men can't get out of that short pants mentality (no slight on Llewellyn McIntosh, my former history and GP teacher, intended).
It is one thing for us everyday folk to engage in such immature name-calling, but you would think that at least one of that trio would have the sense to step back and, appreciating the bigger picture, refuse to surrender to the temptation of such divisive responses.
I suppose I'm just spitting into a hurricane with this, especially as there are so many of my fellow straight-haired, brown-skinned citizens, revolted as they are at the suggestion that they are more West Indian than East Indian, who continue to observe the regional cricket in purely racial terms.
Such irrational behaviour lends credence to the baseless argument that Amit Jaggernauth's omission from the two Tests against Sri Lanka was primarily because of his ethnicity, the warped logic being that there is some unwritten quota that the selectors must adhere to so as to ensure that those of African descent remain in a comfortable majority in the final XI.
In this context, the photographs of "Man of the Series" Ramnaresh Sarwan leaping onto the back of captain Chris Gayle in celebration on Sunday afternoon at the Queen's Park Oval must be enough to make these sycophants nauseous. But then again, the Guyanese batsman seems to have some of the blood of the native peoples of South America coursing through his veins. So he is not a pure breed, and doesn't know any better or appreciates the irreparable damage he is doing by publicly endorsing Gayle as captain.
Getting back to the earlier issue about preference for "high-coloured" sports, does it mean that the growing popularity of the West Indies versus the World cycling series and the increasing corporate support of the event have more to do with the fact that chief organiser and Cycling Federation president Michael Phillips is a dougla-ish French Creole than the fact that it is efficiently run and effectively marketed?
Seeing as how we're not big on locally-generated statistical data (it is always a source of irritation that all those health and lifestyle stories appearing in our media are based almost exclusively on information from the United States and the United Kingdom), it might be worthwhile to break that mould and have a survey done on the racial composition of the crowd at tonight's opening event around the Queen's Park Savannah.
Then again, we should remember the saying about lies, damn lies and statistics, although it seems that misrepresentations are no hindrance to anyone seeking to make a particular point around here.
Expecting a rational discourse and mature behaviour from public personalities would not seem to be too much to ask in a country that is being readied for the official stamp of "First World" status in the next 12 years. Maybe it's a reflection of the Trini psyche to not take anything seriously, although such indifference is also associated with the classic banana republic.
Now that's an interesting notion: a First World banana republic where sport, politics and race are blended together and served on crushed ice and topped off with a tiny umbrella. This country really too sweet for its own good.