TTFF yet to confirm ground for opening World Cup qualifier.
By: Kern De Freitas (Express).[/size]
Five days before Trinidad and Tobago take the field against Bermuda on Sunday in their opening Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2010 World Cup qualifier, the venue for this crucial encounter is yet to be confirmed.
The Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya looks set for its debut on the World Cup qualifying stage, in preference to the perennial choice, the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, as well as the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, which was also considered for the fixture.
With the disagreement between the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) over stadium fees for T&T's international fixtures still ongoing, the Macoya venue--also the home of Joe Public Football Club, of which TTFF special adviser Jack Warner is chairman--seems the best bet in the near future.
Less than three weeks before the historic TTFF centennial celebration event on June 1, T&T's friendly international against England was put in jeopardy after the Ministry of Sport announced that the Federation would have to pay $150,000, plus other associated fees, for the use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Although that game came off--following some legal intervention and dialogue between the parties--subsequent matches have seen Warner and the TTFF seeking alternative venues.
According to TTFF media officer Shaun Fuentes yesterday, talks between the parties were ongoing leading up to last Saturday's match between T&T and Jamaica, held at the Marvin Lee Stadium, but no decision has been reached that will satisfy both sides.
The grim position which Trinidad and Tobago football fans have been faced with regarding match venues for international fixtures was clearly outlined by Warner during the TTFF's end-of-season awards ceremony at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre, St Ann's on Sunday.
"In the foreseeable future, things will have to get worse before they get better," said the outspoken FIFA vice-president as he addressed the pro-football gathering at the function.
"...When we went to Tobago to see the (THA) Chief Secretary (Orville London) to ask him for the ground (Dwight Yorke Stadium) to play Bermuda--because the Chief Secretary is very nice...he doesn't care what political background you have, he's concerned about what you can achieve--our own stadium, which we built with our football...the (Sports) Ministry tells him that it cannot give us the match."
Warner continued his tongue-lashing of the Ministry.
"It's (the Dwight Yorke Stadium) the only thing in Tobago that the Chief Secretary doesn't control. He said this on Friday: 'But a-a, I'm a lil boy in this country!' "
The downside to this new development is that for the World Cup qualifiers to come, the Marvin Lee Stadium will not be the ideal venue to host such matches, with inadequate seating for the public, as well as media facilities.
The T&T-Jamaica affair was hardly packed and even with the makeshift seating erected to facilitate the overflow in that game, it is still far from being able to approach the capacity of the Mucurapo venue, or the other four major football facilities across the country. But, like it or not, the World Cup qualifying campaign is upon us and the Bermudans are coming this weekend...at a venue still to be decided.
TT, Bermuda shifted to Marvin Lee.
By: Joel Bailey (Newday).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago “Soca Warriors” will oppose Bermuda, in their FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Zone Round Two Series Three qualifier, at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya, Tunapuna, on Sunday June 15 instead of the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago..
And the return leg will be staged at the National Sports Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda, on June 22.
Originally, Sunday’s game was scheduled to take place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, but due to the on-going controversy between Sports Minister Gary Hunt and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), the match was moved to Bacolet, but it has been shifted again.
In a news report on local television station TV6 yesterday, Jack Austin Warner, who holds the positions of TTFF special adviser, CONCACAF president and FIFA vice-president, noted that he found out, during a meeting with the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Orville London, that Hunt refused to grant permission for Sunday’s game to take place in Bacolet.
Warner said, “I went (to Tobago) to ask (London) for the Dwight Yorke Stadium, our stadium, which we built, by our footballer’s name.
Warner continued, “he was blocked from giving us because, for the first time, he realised the (Minister) tells him ‘that too comes under our control.’
“It’s the only thing in Tobago that the Chief Secretary doesn’t control,” Warner added.
“He said to us on Friday ‘but aye, aye, I’m a little boy in my country.’”
In another report on C News, the leading football administrator pointed out that, in the absence of the Queen’s Park Oval (Jamaica objected to playing at the Oval last Saturday due to the dry outfield and the cricket pitches), the TTFF had to agree to Hunt’s stipulations, regarding use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
“For example, the fee he was charging was $150,000 to go there,” Warner was quoted as saying.
“So, if we go to play England, Anguilla or Guyana, it’s the same fee. We’re paying $10,000 (apiece for the billboard signs, we’re paying $2,000 apiece for the media booth and a whole set of things which make this whole thing ridiculous.”
On May 20, the issue pertaining to the use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium arose when the Sports Ministry, 12 days before the friendly football international between Trinidad and Tobago and England, stated that, among the conditions contained in its rental agreement for use of any of the Ministry’s sporting facilities were a rental sum of $150,000 plus VAT or 10- percent of the gross gate receipts, which ever sum is greater; a refundable deposit of TT$45,000 towards damages, provision of advertising space, at a cost, within the television arc and prohibition of alcohol and tobacco advertising. After the TTFF took the matter against the Sports Ministry to court, it was agreed that the TT-England match will proceed after the TTFF paid the $150,000 rental fee.
