T&T to face Finland in opening match of 2012 calendar.
By Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).The Contracts of National Senior Team head coach Otto Pfister and members of the Senior Team Technical staff will come to an end at the end in December and will be under review after which a team will be put in place for senior team program for 2012 and beyond.
This was announced at a Media Conference hosted by the TTFF at Jaffa Restaurant, Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday morning. This among other disclosures were made including a recap of expenses processed up to and including October 31, 2011.
Acting President of the TTFF Lennox Watson also revealed that the Senior Men’s team will face the Finland Senior Men’s team in a friendly international at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in January and the Under 23 Men’s team will also face the visitors during the visit to these shores.
The dates will be finalized once the Finland team’s travel date is confirmed and TTFF/All Sport marketing chief Anthony Harford said the game was confirmed as the Finland Association requested the match last month and will be bringing a full strength team on their winter-break tour.
It was also mentioned that a minimum of seven friendly internationals per year will be played outside of competitions, during and outside of the FIFA international window.
CLICK HERE to view TTFF financial statementA new kit sponsor will also be announced in January with the Under 23s likely to be outfitted in uniforms from the new provider in the upcoming CFU Olympic qualifying final round in St Kitts/Nevis later this month.
The date for TTFF Presidency Elections will be determined at a Congress on November 28.
Pfister meantime will return home on Friday on vacation leave until December 31 and further announcements following the review of the contracts of the technical staff members will be made thereafter. Watson also revealed that the vacant post of technical director of the TTFF will be filled before the end of 2011.
Address by Lennox WatsonThis is my maiden speech to the media since being asked to step into the esteemed position of Acting president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. A position which comes with the most serious responsibilities and which I will not take lightly.
At the outset let me on behalf of the entire football fraternity and especially the Executive committee of the TTFF, thank Mr. Oliver Camps for his more than 40 years of distinguished and dedicated service to the sport.
Mr. Camps was the longest serving president in our history, who presided over our successful 2006 World Cup campaign, he was also the longest serving team manager, taking us to two almost successful world cup campaigns.
Mr. Camps was a completely unselfish man who was dedicated to the upliftment of the game. We salute his service. The TTFF is planning a suitable celebration for Mr. Camps to honour his years of service and we will advise you in due course of this event.
Today there are several matters I will address, all of them of equal importance to the game and its administration.
1. The TTFF is, as are indeed all of the country, deeply disappointed at our failure to advance to the next phase of the 2014 World Cup. We at the TTFF are aware of the criticisms being leveled, some of them are justified, chief among them the fact that the national team was inactive for 8 months, The TTFF was very short on resources, and during that period, funding was a challenge.
Our failure to make it to the Gold Cup also contributed to our team's lack of sharpness. However, we have been the target in some quarters for selecting Otto Pfister as the national coach.
Some of those who are now attacking the TTFF for bringing Mr. Pfister to Trinidad, should know the TTFF executive simply adhered to a recommendation of a screening committee. This committee comprised, Dr. Iva Gloudon, Dr. Alvin Henderson, Mr. Keith Look Loy and Mr. Marlon Morris.
This group interviewed all the shortlisted applicants and recommended Mr. Pfister highly. It is difficult to now understand criticism of Mr. Pfister coming from some of those who selected him in the first place.
Senior player Chris Birchall was frank about our failure to qualify. He said openly, it is not the Coach, it is not the TTFF, it is simply the players who MUST shoulder the blame. Birchall, I quote said simply "We did not want it badly enough".
Ladies and Gentlemen, once we negotiated the funds, the TTFF ensured the players were made as comfortable as possible and left no stone unturned in trying to secure a place in the next round.
This is now behind us and we must move on. Our plan is to now use a group of players who can serve us over the next five years and work towards building a national team capable of not just qualifying for a world cup finals, but of playing with sustained excellence.
Our National Under 23 is a good place to start, but there are some senior players who are young and full of potential. We will integrate them into a national outfit of which we can be proud. We know there will be challenges, but we are prepared to work towards a set of goals that will have us ready for the ultimate challenge of a world cup final place in 2018.
Of course, we must also regain Caribbean supremacy and claim a place at the next gold cup. The quest for the senior team will start with a game against Finland in January here in Trinidad. We plan a minimum of 7 internationals a year, along with participation in regional competitions each year for the seniors.
Our Senior Technical staff, including coach Pfister's contract will come to an end in December. These contracts will be reviewed and a team put in place moving forward.
Coach Pfister meantime proceeds on his leave until December 31st. An announcement will be made before the end of 2011. We also intend to fill the vacant post of Technical Director of the Federation, before the end of the year.
The TTFF is in complete accord with the Honourable Minister of Sports' statement earlier this week, that we must have meaningful development programmes. The TTFF has in place a five year development plan, which was approved by the Ministry of Sport.
This plan includes tournaments and clinics such as the minister spoke about. We plan to attend the upcoming workshop being organized by the Ministry on November 28th and will listen with an open mind to all that is put forward. We will be happy to include any suggestion that will help the game nationally, into this development plan.
It is important to note Ladies and Gentlemen, that the TTFF, as part of it's development initiatives, hosted training and licensing of 217 coaches for community work, in the last year. This means we have 217 new "D" and "C" licensed coaches available to communities and clubs nationwide.
We have also in the last year, qualified scores of new referees through a series of training programmes initiated by the FIFA.
We plan to continue our referee development programmes well into 2012. The TTFF is grateful to the Ministry of Sport for it's very supportive role in reshaping a strong future for the sport in the country. We plan to continue to build on that relationship in the year ahead and beyond.
We have been swamped with calls about Mr. Jamal Shabazz. Mr. Shabazz is an employee of the TTFF in the capacity of Assistant director of women's football. The Guyana Federation approached the TTFF for Mr. Shabbazz's services on loan as Guyana's National team coach.
The TTFF released Mr. Shabazz, and today we congratulate him on an astounding job for Guyana. His loan to Guyana is now at an end and he is expected in the next few days to return to his post at the TTFF. Should he be requested again,the TTFF will have to then deal with this issue.
Women's football is getting better. There are considerable scholarship opportunities for our young women through football. We have a growing school's league and our national teams are developing well. Technical Director Even Pellerud has shaped a very good model, which we expect his charges will emulate.
We plan to host in Trinidad and Tobago at least one major women's event at the CONCACAF Level in 2012. We are happy that we have paid equal attention to our ladies team in recent times and will continue to give them the respect they deserve. I can confirm several of our National senior players are now holding degrees, and I urge the corporate sector to consider hiring our national players.
The final two matters concern the marketing and events management for the TTFF. As you are aware, we appointed All Sport, with the blessings of the Ministry of sport, to handle our marketing and events management. This experiment has worked well, with the TTFF meeting every obligation since August 1st. Our events and National Teams have all been taken care of.
Mr Harford will later on provide you with the details. The TTFF plans to continue it's association with All Sport , with greater emphasis on the marketing of the game. One of our ambitions is to have a better structure at the highest level of club football in the country.
The TTFF will initiate discussions with the two major leagues in the country, the TT Pro League and The National Super League to explore the possibility on a single two division National League with a premier and championship division hosting 10 teams each.
Should all the stakeholders agree, we would like to see the new Marketing arm of the TTFF ensure proper commercial opportunities are explored, thus giving national football a better profile. We expect this thrust to extend to the women's game as well.
Finally, I would like to make a statement on Mr. Jack Warner. It is no secret Mr. Warner has been the most influential, larger than life figure in National Football for decades. It would be less than sensible to say in many cases the TTFF allowed Mr. Warner the luxury of making decisions on our behalf.
However recent events have rendered Mr. Warner ineligible for national football duty. The TTFF respects the decisions made between Mr. Warner and the FIFA and I am advising the national community today that as of August 2011 Austin Jack Warner is no longer a part of the TTFF and has not been an influence on the management of the organization.
There are some areas of his involvement with us that are being addressed, but I state unequivocally the TTFF has completely severed ties with him. We thank Mr. Warner for sharing over the years, his wisdom and experience and we wish him every success in the future as he takes the country forward in another capacity."
