NAAA

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http://www.guardian.co.tt/sport/thursday-january-12-2012/minister-roberts-naaa-president-has-seven-days-respond

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Minister Roberts: NAAA president has seven days to respond
Published: Thursday, January 12, 2012
Andrew Gioannetti

Minister of Sport Anil Roberts has called on the President of the National Association for Athletic Administration (NAAA), Ephraim Serrette to publicly apologise for allegations made during the NAAA awards ceremony held at Crown Plaza, Port of Spain, on Sunday. Speaking at a news conference held at the Ministry of Sport on Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, yesterday, Roberts responded to Serrette, who described the Ministry’s cut in fundings for certain National Sporting Organisations (NSO) as a joke, saying that the NAAA “has been given no allocation for the fiscal period 2011 to 2012 as yet because they have not signed the level service agreement.” Roberts pointed out that five deadlines, four of which were extensions were given to the NAAA to sign the agreement, were missed because the said association has not provided the necessary documents to validate the agreement for funding. He added, “Furthermore, the NAAA has not provided the Ministry of Sport or the Sport Company with their bank accounts, with their bank statements, their cash in hand, their investments...None of this information has been provided.” Roberts also asked that Serrette provide him with information to substantiate a letter by Serrette which implies there’s a bias in the Elite Athlete Assistance Programme (EAAP). Roberts provided a letter written by Serrette to the Ministry indicating that applications for funding for certain athletes have not been acknowledged, while “less than deserving persons have received funding from the ministry.” Serrette is quoted in the letter dated November 2, as saying, “the policies as outlined are not being adhered to and less deserving persons have received funding. The perceived bias with the respect to the beneficiaries, nor the other inconsistencies with respect to monies pledged paid out due or when disbursements will be made.

The perception now leads to the reputation of the NAAA being questioned, as the NAAA is being perceived as colluding with the ministry and being engaged in less than desirable activities.” Roberts responded: “I would like for Mr Serrette to tell me which one of these athletes is not deserving of the elite athletes programme.” He then called on Serrette to identify those who are “less than deserving” and to substantiate the comments in seven days or apologise publicly. Serrette also recently requested more funds be pumped in to the NAAA for preparation of the summer Olympics. Roberts has since indicated that the T&TOC provides funding for the preparation of athletes for the Olympic year, with the assistance of the Ministry of Sport. “The NAAA has absolutely nothing extra to do during an Olympic year, with regards to funding whatsoever."

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NAAA respond to Anil
Story Created: Jan 20, 2012 at 1:07 AM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 20, 2012 at 1:07 AM ECT

The National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) has responded to Minister of Sport Anil Roberts, following his threat to take legal action against the organisation over claims of irregularities in the administration of elite athlete funding.

In a media release, yesterday, the NAAA said it never intended to "engage the Minister publicly", but was "forced to share with the public our side of the issue".

Roberts hosted two press conferences in the space of eight days. At the second press conference, two days ago, the Minister threatened legal action.

Yesterday's NAAA release explained how the elite athlete funding programme works.

"Athletes who consider themselves eligible complete the application forms, which are endorsed (nominated) by the National Sporting Body (NSO) concerned, passed to the Olympic Committee (T&TOC) for its recommendation and then forwarded to the Ministry of Sport for handling.

"We have seen a list of names being circulated," the release continued, "which may have been the list used by the Honourable Minister at his media conference. We note that he did call a few names and then challenged the Association to say which of the athletes were not deserving. We will not be drawn into any public name calling. However, we maintain our position that 'less deserving athletes' were being funded while other applications remained in abeyance.

"Track & field athletes on athletic scholarships in the USA are required to compete on the NCAA circuit and a key eligibility requirement is that the athletes must not have received monies while on scholarship, or for competing before or during the period of that scholarship. By publicly naming the beneficiaries of the elite athlete fund, the Honourable Minister has unwittingly compromised the eligibility status of some of our athletes currently on scholarship as well as jeopardised the chances of a few others who are hoping to obtain athletic scholarships."

The NAAA release said "the list being circulated is incomplete and badly presented. Not only are the names of some known beneficiaries missing but the information is misleading.

"There is an athlete on the list that is not registered with the Association and is unknown to us in the sport of track & field. We sincerely hope that this particular athlete belongs to another sport and was accidentally included on a list of track & field athletes.

"The Honourable Minister," the release continued, "in his letter of November 08 has indicated inter alia 'that all applications for funding will be submitted directly by the applicant to the Ministry'. Unless there have been changes that we are not aware of, this approach is in direct breach of the policy as outlined on the website, as approved by Cabinet and of the practice since the establishment of the programme. This is precisely the type of issue we were raising and seeking to avoid in our letter of November 02."

The NAAA release also addressed the issue of "non-submission of required documents".

"Track & field is one of the sports that report directly to the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (SPORTT). Our submissions are made to SPORTT, and when requested to the Ministry. Some of the submissions listed as outstanding by the Honourable Minister have previously been submitted to SPORTT and were accepted."

The NAAA release said the organisation is willing to meet with Minister Roberts.

"We remain open to meeting with the Honourable Minister at short notice to discuss further and/or to clarify the matters dealt with briefly above as well as those other matters raised in our correspondence of November 02, 2011."