Yellow card danger for 12 Warriors
By Nigel Simon (Trinidad Guardian)
Jack Warner, FIFA vice-president and special advisor to the T&T Football Federation is expected to inform the Warriors management on the status of players with yellow cards before the playoff with Bahrain for one of five remaining berths to the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.
The yellow-card accumulation of the T&T players became the subject of discussion after the Warriors slipped past Mexico 2-1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, last Wednesday, to clinch the play-off spot in the CONCACAF final round World Cup qualifiers.
It was felt by the T&T management that the cards picked up by the players would be wiped off for the Bahrain matches, while in some quarters it is being stated that the clean slate for the cautioned players will only come into effect if the team qualifies for Germany.
Contacted yesterday, team manager Bruce Anaansen said that he is also unsure of the situation, hence the reason why Mr Warner was asked to get clarification on the matter from Concacaf.
But Ramish Ramdhan, recently retired FIFA referee, told G -Sports last night that the rule as it pertains to yellow cards is that they carry over once the play is in the same competition
As it stands, T&T players Brent Sancho, Dwight Yorke, Densil Theobald, Avery John, Marvin Andrews, Aurtis Whitley, Brent Rahim, Anton Pierre, Carlos Edwards, Cyd Gray, Kenwyne Jones and Christopher Birchall have all been booked during the two years of qualification matches, dating back to the Caribbean Zone preliminary matches.
These players are therefore in danger of missing the away match to Bahrain on November 16, should they picked up a caution in the November 12 home-leg at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
If those cards are to carry over, a caution for any one of the above will result in a suspension for the next match.
Bahrain could also be in a spot of bother should FIFA confirm that the cards picked up so far by the players will carry into the two play-off matches.
The Bahranian players who are one card away from automatic suspension are Mohammed Hubal, Saleh Farhan, Hassan Baba, Husain Ahmed, Sayed Adnan, Abdullah Marzooq, Ahmed Taleb, Rased Abdul Rahman and Naser Duaij.
Players who have served one match suspensions already because of two yellow cards, or a red card expulsion, are Salmeen Mohammed (three yellows), Sayed Jalal, Hassan Baba, Talal Mohammed (three yellows) and Husain Mohammed Mohammed.
