Game will go on
Govt enters talks with TTFF over stadium lease for England/T&T friendly
Ian Prescott iprescott@trinidadexpress.com
Thursday, May 22nd 2008
SPORTS Minister Gary Hunt yesterday assured football fans that the England versus Trinidad and Tobago friendly will go on as planned at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on June 1.
He said this hours after apparently meeting with Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation president, Oliver Camps, and special advisor Jack Warner." Some concessions" are said to have been made to allow the match to go on in the wake of a contractual disagreement over the facility's rental.
"The Government has entered in talks with the TTFF with a position that we would like the game to go on," Hunt said at his office on Abecromby Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.
The disagreement stemmed from the Sport Ministry's demand that the TTFF pay a rental fee of $150,000 or 10 per cent of the gates for use of the match venue. Branding the fee exorbitant, the TTFF threatened to take legal action unless the Ministry reconsidered its position.
Prior to meeting with the media yesterday, Hunt had met with Camps and Warner. Hunt was in conciliatory mood stating, by way of explanation, that the TTFF had provided additional information on its contractual arrangement with the English Football Association. In the event, the Ministry may be willing, he said, to make some concessions when the parties have a second meeting at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. He believed `he TTFF was also in a mood to negotiate.
"They are willing," Hunt said. "There is legal posturing, but they are willing. That is the impression left with me today."
Moving forward, Hunt said that a proper lease arrangement had to be put in place to cover rentals of the Hasely Crawford. He stressed that the match was a commercial activity and should be treated as such with estimated gate receipts to the TTFF being $8.9m along with advertising revenue amounting to $650,000 and television rights to the rest of the region amounting to $40 million. Hunt also added that the friendly international was also costing the Government 1.3 million to renovate the facility and as such it too held a vested interest.
Hunt said the dispute was a simple one of sorting out a lease agreement. But he went on to disclose that a policy governing the Stadium's use was before Cabinet and because the Ministry saw the match as being commercial in nature, it was seeking to protect the rights of Trinidad & Tobago.
A review was possible, however, once the TTFF gave assurances that profits will be ploughed back into the country's football development.
"We are asking that the profits realised from this commercial venture be invested in development programmes to be undertaken by the TTFF, preferably in the high-risk and rural areas such as Toco, Point Fortin Tabaquite and Sangre Grande," Hunt said.
Hunt also touched on the TTFF's efforts to host the 2010 FIFA Women Under-17 World Cup, stating that the TTFF had not given government sufficient time to consider the matter. He said the policy was that sporting organisations inform the Cabinet a year before of their intention to bid for world championships. He said that it was only two weeks ago that the TTFF had submitted a bulky document consisting of 200 clauses and 26 sub clauses.
