Fresh adjournment in World Cup bonus case
By Lasana Liburd (T&T Express)
The 2006 World Cup bonus dispute is set to rumble on until at least the middle of 2009 after both sides agreed to a six-month adjournment yesterday via mail to the Trinidad and Tobago High Court.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) applied to the local court to hear their case against 15 of the country's 2006 World Cup players last November after the London-based Sport Dispute Resolution Panel found in favour of the "Soca Warriors", seven months earlier.
In November 2008, the World Cup players' British attorney, Michael Townley, suggested that the TTFF's application to the High Court was "an attempt to distance themselves from the judgment in the UK". The Warriors were to be represented in the High Court by local counsel, Farid Scoon, yesterday. However, a source alleged that the TTFF's instructing attorney Kelvin Ramkissoon requested a six-month adjournment by letter, prior to yesterday's hearing, and Scoon supposedly concurred.
Neither Scoon nor Ramkissoon could be reached for comment yesterday.
Townley refused comment but did admit that he was "very upset" by the lengthy adjournment.
The Sport Dispute Resolution Panel ruled last May that the TTFF owed their World Cup players half of all revenue accrued from participation in the prestigious tournament. As such, Townley requested an interim payment of $44 million from the T&TFF, which he described as "a tiny fraction of what the players are due based on the limited information made public by TTFF".
It looks to be another six months before either side makes further headway in the case.
Townley has already lost two clients since the players sought counsel as Densill Theobald and Marvin Andrews opted to settle, while FIFA vice-president and TTFF special advisor Jack Warner directly approached several other players with offers. There may be more overtures before June.
