Same socks, no match
Clashing colours lead to cancellation of quarter-final
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)
It was a disturbing sight, fans angrily pounding on the cashier's cage at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Saturday night, demanding their money back from Digicel Pro League administrator Julia Baptiste.
What was supposed to be a big occasion–the First Citizens Cup quarter-final involving two of Trinidad and Tobago's top pro teams, Ma Pau and San Juan Jabloteh–soon turned sour when match officials scrapped the game due to a dispute between the clubs. The main issue was that both teams were wearing black pants and black socks.
From the start, the quarter-final double-header–which also featured Joe Public versus North East Stars–was plagued with problems.
Originally, the double-header was scheduled for Friday at the Marvin Lee Stadium, without taking into consideration that Joe Public had a CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final match in Mexico two days before against Santos Laguna.
Then it was shifted to Saturday at the "Marvin Lee" to give Joe Public a chance to recover and finally on Friday it was moved to the Hasely Crawford Stadium because the Centre of Excellence administrators wanted no more double-headers at the venue due to the amount of football played there recently.
In the first match on Saturday, Joe Public beat North East Stars 2-0 via a header from Antiguan Gayson Gregory (36th) and a 45th minute Kerry Baptiste penalty to book their semi-final spot in the First Citizens Cup.
But when Ma Pau and Jabloteh took the field, there was a long delay before the match officials marched away and called off the game.
The reason for the argument was that the black pants and socks which Jabloteh wore clashed with home team Ma Pau. Much of the dispute may have also had to do with a rivalry between coaches Michael McComie (Ma Pau) and Englishman Terry Fenwick (Jabloteh), who are far from being friends.
Over the years, there have been plenty heated moments between the two coaches, like in the 2009 FA Trophy final which almost came to blows and ended with McComie accusing Fenwick of spitting on him.
On Saturday July 31, the exact "socks" problem halted their Lucozade Sport Goal Shield quarter-final, until away team Jabloteh changed into red socks loaned to them by Joe Public.
Before leaving the venue on Saturday, Fenwick made only a brief statement.
"Yet again we have controversy at a match. We've got to recognise finances are tight right now...we have black socks instead of red ones," Fenwick declared. "Obviously we are very disappointed and the sponsors will be disgusted that the game has not gone on."
Ma Pau coach McComie quickly defended his own position, stating: "I did not stop the game. Of course, the match commissioner and the officials are aware of the rules, and at the same time they are the ones that will make the decision if the game will be played or not. I am not in control, and Ma Pau is not in control of putting a game off.
"At the press conference to launch the tournament it states very clearly that the away mentioned team had to come with their two sets of uniforms," said McComie. "The referee came across to us and indicated that Jabloteh refused to put on the red stockings. We have no problem with the black pants that they have, but we offered to loan them our red stockings and they refused to take it...that is what the referee told me. And, as such, he had no other alternative but to cancel the game.
"It is quite clear in the rule book with the rules and regulations that run the tournament. Fines will be handed out, I assume, whether it be to Ma Pau or Jabloteh, whoever is in breach of the regulations, but that is for the Pro League. We are the home team today and we just showed up to try to play a quarter-final. Unfortunately, I just feel sorry for the supporters who came out to see the game. It was a big night and they expected to see a good competitive match."
