Gary Griffith Football Thread

[Flex]

Gary Griffith: PNM spied on Warriors.
By Sean Douglas (Newsday).

The telephones of 2006 World Cup Soca Warriors footballers Kenwyne Jones, Russell Latapy and Carlos Edwards were wiretapped by the former Patrick Manning-led People’s National Movement (PNM) Administration, National Security Minister Gary Griffith alleged yesterday.

On Wednesday night, Griffith first disclosed that Jones, now a player for English club Stoke City, had been spied on by the previous PNM government when he spoke at a United National Congress (UNC) meeting at Bamboo No 1 on Wednesday, ahead of Monday’s St Joseph bye- election.

When Newsday pressed him yesterday to elaborate on his claims, Griffith further revealed Latapy and Edwards were also spied on.

At the UNC meeting, Griffith made his revelation about Jones’ phones being wiretapped so as to contrast the People’s Partnership Government’s plans for tackling crime to both current PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley’s recent derisory remarks on Colombia and Venezuela, and the Manning regime’s spying on upstanding TT nationals.

Griffith said the former regime’s long-term spying on citizens had dwarfed this Government’s controversial promotion of a junior employee, Reshmi Ramnarine, to head the Strategic Intelligence Agency (SIA).

“Reshmi was there for three days, but for seven years that PNM intelligence unit was ‘maccoing’, spying on law-abiding citizens,” said Griffith. “Ask them (PNM) that. Why is it that they used intelligence resources to tap, spy, macco? They look at your computer, look at your phone. They have the names of media people, politicians, Kenwyn Jones, tapping their cellphones.”

Making the point that Jones was no gangster, Griffith punned, “The only ‘shot’ I know Kenwyne Jones ever had was at goal. Why is it you (PNM) were tapping Kenwyn Jones for so long?.”

Contacted by Newsday yesterday, Griffith then said the former PNM regime has also spied on two other national footballers, in addition to journalists, businessmen and celebrities. He said, “Kenwyn Jones, Russell Latapy and Carlos Edwards were on a list of names intercepted by the previous administration.”

The trio all played in the Trinidad and Tobago football team that won huge global respect at the 2006 World Cup in Germany for drawing nil-nil with Sweden in their opening match, and then holding England scoreless for 83 minutes, until Peter Crouch’s controversial goal led to a two-nil win for England.

Newsday asked why the footballers had been spied on by the PNM regime?

Griffith replied, “The only reason I can think of is to ascertain the political affiliation of individuals who may have been a political liability to the previous administration. None of them had any criminal involvement.”

The three players mentioned by Griffith are at present all abroad pursuing their footballing interests. Jones plays for Stoke City and Edwards plays for Ipswich Town, both in England, while Latapy is reportedly pursuing a high-level coaching badge in Scotland. Jones, a striker, had played for Stoke, Sunderland, Southampton, Sheffield, all in England, and began in TT with Joe Public and W Connection.

Edwards played as right-wing and/or right-back for Wrexham, Luton Town, Sunderland (and Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan) and now Ipswich Town, starting off in TT playing for Patna United, Queen’s Park and Defence Force.

Latapy played for local, regional and international clubs namely Caledonia AIA (TT); Port Morant United (Jamaica); Académica, Porto and Boavista(Portugal);

and Hibernian, Rangers, Dundee United, Falkirk and Edinburgh City (Scotland).

Newsday was unsuccessful in its efforts to contact the three players, and local football and PNM officials yesterday. The People’s Partnership first made revelations of wiretapping under the PNM in 2010.

On Wednesday, Griffith accused Rowley of mouthing the name, “Colombia”, in a derogatory tone of voice and of threatening to have Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) so as to pick a fight with Venezuela. By contrast Griffith boasted of having just concluded cordial bilateral talks with Venezuela on national security issues so as to have a “proper working relationship with the Venezuelan Government”.

He boasted of the just-launched Highway Patrol of the Police Service, and the upcoming visit of Bill Bratton — the former police chief of Los Angeles, New York City and Boston respectively — to inspire local law enforcement, also noting the People’s Partnership is the only government that has ever tackled TT’s gang problem.

Griffith said the PNM Crime Plan was simply the Special Anti-crime Unit of TT (SAUTT) plus Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), but the People’s Partnership runs a National Security Operations Centre to coordinate all law enforcement agencies to work together.

He boasted of hitting criminals by intelligence-gathering, data-acquisition, crime scene investigation and community policing for the public and police to work together, and better cooperation with TT’s allies such as Venezuela and Colombia.

[D.H.W]

I have a hard time believing anything this government says even if it true

[Coop's]

This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help.

[Brownsugar]

This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help.

They were??   

[Coop's]

This real funny,the 06 Warriors was on the PNM platform last election looking for help.

They were??   

      Like u didn't see Rowley in parliament telling JW to resign for not paying the 06 Warriors their money.

[mwanasoka]

Why is this Politricking coming up right now 
Sounds Obamaesque ! 

[Sam]

That was Rowley talking coops, not the actual players.

The players dont normally talk about they political views.

In T&T they can do anything and get away.

[Trevor]

What chupidness is this?

[weary1969]

What chupidness is this?

This is the same list that the Israelis took or the 1 where d 2 Jacks on record saying that they saw their name and then say they eh see their name. Not to mention I saw Griffith said Kenwyn was spied on. I guess MI5 did it for the PNM.

[Football supporter]

Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.

[lefty]

Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.

he simply following in the AG's footsteps, but generally the country's Intelligence infrastructure has been and is being badly abused and misused by our Gov'ts

[D.H.W]

Isn't this an invasion of privacy or misuse of public funds? If so, why hasn't Mr Griffith begun proceedings against those responsible? Also, should Mr Griffith, as Minister of National Security be revealing such information on a political platform? If he has known about this for sometime, he clearly is using intelligence information for political purposes.

he simply following in the AG's footsteps, but generally the country's Intelligence infrastructure has been and is being badly abused and misused by our Gov'ts

Like the laser beam in the DPP office listening to conversation.

[Bakes]

Newsday was unsuccessful in its efforts to contact the three players, and local football and PNM officials yesterday. The People’s Partnership first made revelations of wiretapping under the PNM in 2010.

They didn't make 'revelations', they made allegations... which they never were able to substantiate, thanks to three Israeli jumbies.  Stop de shit Newsday.

[maxg]

Well they couldn't tap up Kamla & Jack...so PNM went for the next best choice...the 06 Warriors...had to find out how vex the fellas was with Jack...how come they didn't tap Cyd too ....wheter true or not, damn fool really saying that in public..next big story..Manning vexed, as a tapped up Latas was singing Scotish national anthem in the bathroom   

[Controversial]

whappen, one of the cabinet ministers was getting horn from a warrior? 

real nonsense... newsday don't have real news to write?

[AB.Trini]

Why these ding dongs doh stop the allegations and blame game and get things right. They get into power by blaming everything on PNM and then they ended up  pulling all kinda inept moves to make all the allegations look angelic.  U ent  see enough Panty Politics to wipe nuff arses for a while

[Flex]

Gary Griffith moves on PP.
By Gail Alexander (Guardian)

Former national security minister Gary Griffith plans to filed a report with the police concerning an alleged meeting with advertising agency head Ernie Ross at Ross Advertising on the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West issue, for the police to determine if any criminal matter occurred. Griffith confirmed that to the T&T Guardian yesterday.

The situation has further compounded the issue, which centres on West’s complaint to police concerning alleged witness-tampering by former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan in a defamation matter in which Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is involved. Government last week denied pressuring Griffith to withdraw witness statements in West’s complaint.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar removed both Ramlogan and Griffith from the Cabinet on Monday after police started a criminal probe of West’s allegations. West gave police a statement last week when he reported the matter to acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams. Ramlogan has not yet given any statement to the police, it was confirmed yesterday.

Yesterday, Griffith said he has already submitted two statements to the police on the witness-tampering allegations. He said he would submit a statement on a third matter,  the Ross issue, today. Communication Minister Vasant Bharath has denied Griffith’s claim that he had met with Ross, Griffith and Griffith’s wife, Nicole, concerning West’s allegations. Bharath said he was at Ross’ on a regular basis but didn’t attend any meeting as Griffith described.

Acting Police Commissioner Williams told the T&T Guardian yesterday that during the course of an interview by police recently, Griffith lodged the report. He said Deputy Police Commissioner Harold Phillips, who is assigned to handle the entire West issue, is now “effectively addressing the matter.”

Ross advertising responds

Yesterday, Ross Advertising issued a statement on the issue, saying there had been several inaccurate reports by the media and statements by Griffith on the alleged meeting between the head of Ross Advertising, Griffith and Mrs Griffith on January 29 at Ross’ offices.

The statement said there was never any meeting between Bharath, Griffith, Mrs Griffith and Ross. It noted, however, that there was a meeting between Griffith, Mrs Griffith and Ross at the premises but said Bharath was never part of the meeting at any time. Ross, the statement said, convened the meeting as media adviser to Griffith, noting Ross had done several advertising campaigns on the National Security Ministry’s behalf.

The company added: “As is proper form, the former minister (Griffith) and his wife were both advised at the onset and during the session that the discussions were entirely in their interest and there was no attempt to change the veracity of statements.

“At all times the purpose of the meeting was to best prepare the minister for scrutiny of the media, public and Opposition party.

“It is an informal role which Mr Ross has conducted with Minister Griffith as well as many other members of the Cabinet on numerous occasions, via phone, meetings, e-mail and text messages as issues arise.” The company said it has been conducting media management exercises for over 20 years regionally with a successful record.

PM wants inquiry

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has forwarded a request to President Anthony Carmona for an independent enquiry into the circumstances involved in the Ramlogan/Griffith/Rowley/West matter, which was sparked by a defamation suit in the Section 34 matter filed by Ramlogan against Rowley, following West’s allegations. A letter to this effect was dispatched along with statements the PM received from Ramlogan and Griffith.

In removing Ramlogan and Griffith from office on Monday, the PM had expressed concern that West had not informed either the President or her of his allegations that he had been approached by Ramlogan to withdraw a witness statement in the defamation matter involving Rowley. West’s statement was done for Rowley’s side. The PM questioned why West had waited until now to reveal his allegations.

She also expressed concern on various aspects of Rowley’s position, including whether he had known of the issue when he was consulted on West’s appointment. She said if that was the case, Rowley should also have informed the President. The PM said West’s position as PCA director was compromised because of the current situation and he should immediately resign or his appointment should be revoked.

West didn’t answer calls yesterday on whether he would resign.

http://www.tv6tnt.com/news/Gary-Griffith-I-was-fired-290599121.html

[Cruyff]

How does Gary Griffith son make a national team? This is some crazy shit. The Trinidad & Tobago football community is a joke to allow such corruption to continue. #normalizationcommittee football for yuh money. This team is missing basic tactical understanding..#bankleaguefootball #fenwickOUT

[pull stones]

why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,

[pull stones]

why is it that our players struggle tremendously to make sensible passes when we play against the united states, while they make it look so easy to tip tap around us? that is s sure sign that we need development programs where they young men needs to learn how to hold on to possession under intense pressure.

the US pressure our defense and midfield cutting off our passing lanes every time they play us, didn't anyone figured this out by now and find a way to counter that approach? they would never pull that against top teams like england and germany, not even argentina or uraguay, for they would be punished. it's upsetting to see us be so predictable where a team would implore the same tactic decade after decade and it still works like a charm, just simply bloody embarrassing.

[Cruyff]

why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,

You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.   

[pull stones]

why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,

You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.

look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.

[Cruyff]

why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,

You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.

look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.

If you don’t want to argue, don’t argue. Why is it that everything for trinis results in an argument. It’s a discussion mate.

This is international football so there is no excuse for the lack of basic tactical understanding the team displayed. I don’t understand what point you are trying to make by, “he certainly didn’t make the team any worse”. If that’s your approach to international football then clearly we don’t belong there.

Once the commissioner of police is actively involved in football, only for self interest to buy a place for his son on the team who wasn’t even a school boy standout then we are ALL to blame!!!!

Fenwick is going to feed the masses with tons of excuses about lack of preparation, COVID, the ban but I don’t see with even our full team, how are we going to qualify for a World Cup playing against the A teams of, Mexico, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Honduras to name a few. I guess only time will tell.

[Rastaman]

So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.

Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team
If you did then respect to you.

[pull stones]

why hate on the lad? it's obvious he impressed the coach in some capacity, and if i'm not mistaken he's on his way to ireland according to the an article i read on the forum, at least it's much better than india.
. ease of the lad and give him a chance,

You can’t be serious, “hero warrior”....it’s NOT obvious that he impressed Fenwick. What’s obvious is that he got picked because his dad, the commissioner of police is friends with Fenwick and he bought his son’s way into the team. The club you are referring too is, the Northern Ireland Club - Coleraine FC. The English Football Association considers the Northern Ireland League to be on the same level as the Trinidad Pro League and India I League, with all 3 competitions ranked in “Band Six” for work permit applicants which is considered 2 levels below the MLS.

look here man i don't want to argue, but seriously, if the lad played tonight of which i wasn't aware because of the piss poor commentary by FS1 which i never heard his name mentioned. but never the less, if he featured it would have happened after the sixth goal was scored because that's when the first changes were made, and what harm could it have caused since we were already in the middle of a route? he certainly didn't make the team any worst, that's for sure.

If you don’t want to argue, don’t argue. Why is it that everything for trinis results in an argument. It’s a discussion mate.

This is international football so there is no excuse for the lack of basic tactical understanding the team displayed. I don’t understand what point you are trying to make by, “he certainly didn’t make the team any worse”. If that’s your approach to international football then clearly we don’t belong there.

Once the commissioner of police is actively involved in football, only for self interest to buy a place for his son on the team who wasn’t even a school boy standout then we are ALL to blame!!!!

Fenwick is going to feed the masses with tons of excuses about lack of preparation, COVID, the ban but I don’t see with even our full team, how are we going to qualify for a World Cup playing against the A teams of, Mexico, USA, Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Honduras to name a few. I guess only time will tell.

in all honesty I don’t think we should even be focused on making the world cup, i think this is where we get it wrong every time. its quite obvious that our focus should be on development and developmental programs because as fenwick pointed out these lads don’t even have the basics, and it’s the whole football fraternity at fault here.

when dexter skeene and Leary romany was the pro league managers wim risebergen the then coach told them that the league was deficient, but instead of taking it on the chin and humbling themselves by sitting down with the coach and identifying their short comings, they acted simple by bashing the man with their silly sensitivities and inflated ego.

another coach came in a few years later (Otto fister) and recognized the same faults and spoke out, not to mention that he was met with the same indignation and the usual xenophobic chants of racism and the “how dare him criticize us” mantra. the truth is that trinidadians are highly toxic self serving ego maniacs, especially those in position of power and authority. and last year was a perfect example of that megalomania both with the federation and the football fraternity.

wallace was lead down and over a precipice by his legal advisors and sancho and his crew was so blinded by power and self interest that they never tried to reach out to the federation in a meaningful way. I think it would have served wallace and co. better if they had took their case to CAS while fifa performed their coup de etet, and the fraternity should have rallied behind him on principle alone, but that clearly wasn’t the case and simply because we are an ego driven bunch.

just wrap your heads around this for a minute, jack warner could have had us on a mountain high if his interest was truly ingrained in football. We in Trinidad could have been blessed with at least five solid live in academies, we could have formed a terrific league attracting players from all over the world,and jack warner could have gifted us that when h3 had the means to do so, but no, we wanted to make World Cup every year instead of being a top team in the region which would have given us a far better chance to make a world cup every time it rolled around. very poor thinking and planning indeed.

[Deeks]

So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.

Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team
If you did then respect to you.

Dred, I think you did a misprint about Alvin. You probably meant his son. Alvin was an excellent and damn good player. In TT top 25 best players!!!!!

[Rastaman]

So why is it that this is the only point that you can bring up after that sham of a game. There are so many other important other things to discuss, like why Fenwick played over weight players and why some players played for way longer than they should have. Why he didnt play othe only left footed player on the team.
Obviously somebody outside of TnT thinks the boy has some talent and is willing to make him a professional in another country....with all the players that they have in their country. Give GG III a break nah....... find a Police forum and bash his father there.

Question... did you question when Alvin Corneal was on the national team
If you did then respect to you.

Dred, I think you did a misprint about Alvin. You probably meant his son. Alvin was an excellent and damn good player. In TT top 25 best players!!!!!

Sorry Anton Corneal

[Fyzoman]

Why are we talking about a player who didn't even play?
I came looking for a link of the game to review the game and saw this and thought I was on FB on some CNC3 post where the GG-bashers reside

[Flex]

Commissioner: My passion has me involved in T&T football.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).

COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith said he does not have a position with the T&T men's football team, explaining that he has been around the team because of his passion for sport.

Since the middle of last year the national footballers have trained at the St James Police Barracks in St James under head coach Terry Fenwick. Griffith has been seen regularly at national team training sessions. His son Gary Griffith III is part of the national team set-up.

On Friday, Griffith facilitated a relaxed afternoon at his residence at the Barracks where the players had a meal. Speaking to the media, Griffith made it clear that he is not benefiting financially from his interest in the team.

"I have never received a cent from TTFA, I don't need a cent. The same way when I accepted the position as Commissioner of Police. The state cannot afford my qualifications, knowledge and expertise in the field."

Griffith, who said it is not a job, added, "I am doing it just for the love for the sport, but there is a lot that I have done...sometimes players don't even have funds to get to training, sometimes they don't have a meal, so I do try my best to see how best I can help, but I have never received a cent and I have never asked for one."

Griffith, who believes that the TT Football Association can't afford to pay normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, added, "There are persons that are doing this for the love of the sport and that's why I am asking more persons to step forward and see what they can do to help the team rather than just to criticise."

Griffith said when this country is on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup, the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo would be packed, but when T&T are not in contention only a sprinkle of fans show up.

A report circulated on Friday that there is turmoil within the camp. The report said some players have issues leading up to the team's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Guyana in Dominican Republic on March 25. Among the concerns are that there is no clear laid out structure of play for the team and the local players are being disrespected. Players Duane Muckette and Alvin Jones denied disunity in the camp, saying they are focused on the qualifier.

Griffith said, "No one is perfect, but what is not accepted is to give the perception that there is some disunity here with the national team."

[Flex]

Griffith: Two national youth footballers stranded in UK, arm of human trafficking.
By Andrew Gioannetti (T&T Newsday).

COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says he is liaising with the TT Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee and the Ministry of National Security to ensure the safe arrival of two youth team footballers who were lured and left "stranded" abroad with the pretext of lucrative contracts.

Griffith, whose son Gary Griffith III, is a national men's team player, warned parents that agents and scouts will likely discard their teenage prospects, leaving them in the streets to find their way home, if they don't "cut it" on trials at clubs.

Speaking at the police media briefing on Thursday, the commissioner said, "This can be seen as an arm of human trafficking and it is something we need to look at." He said both the regional and global governing bodies for football are aware of this.

Neither Griffith nor the TTFA named the players or which clubs the agents tried to have them sign for. The commissioner, however, said he was made aware of the problem a week ago and the players in question represented T&T's youth teams.

"Some of them were offered the world and they were sent to the Middle East and for over a year they still cannot get back home," he revealed. "The accommodation was similar to indentured labour.

"There was nowhere to sleep, they weren't getting meals and they were just cast on the streets. They actually had to hitch a ride to London and I'm now in contact with them.

"FIFA and Concacaf are also fully aware of the situations around the world... I will now be liaising with the normalisation committee and to ensure that all young footballers (do not follow suit), because these so-called scouts and agents – if they get a cut, fine, if they don't, well that's the end of them...You have to find your way back home."

The normalisation committee, which replaced the elected executive under FIFA's orders, is headed by businessman Robert Hadad.

Griffith said the UK and Ireland are also "fully aware" of the issue of human trafficking in sport, highlighting measures taken in their respective football leagues to combat it, like the rule which restricts clubs from signing more than three foreign players between 18 and 21, along with other criteria.

"There is a reason they have done this. It is not just to protect British football, but also to prevent problems they saw with minors being abused by scouts or agents."

He highlighted an incident in which a foreign player got involved with Manchester City Academy and after failing to "cut it", the player ended his life when he was sent home.

"There have been reports all around the world of hundreds of young persons who (have been) lured by scouts, especially from Asia, Africa and in the Caribbean, in the hope that he will get it, and if he gets it, then he (an agent) would get a cut.

"But then, on most occasions, the clubs will then discard them and we have many minors end up on the streets throughout the world because of the hope and the dream to be a world-class footballer."

Griffith said a system is needed where all young minor footballers invited to trials abroad do so through the TTFA's normalisation committee to verify information about the clubs that the players may not be inclined to seek, as well as to ensure they are accommodated, fed and have a ticket to return home.

"If this is not done, this can be seen as human trafficking, because you're now trying to utilise a human being for your own value, at the expense of the well-being of that minor."

Newsday tried unsuccessfully several times to reach Hadad for his reaction to Griffith's revelations and to ask if he would consider implementing the commissioner's suggestion that minor players register with the TTFA before going for trials overseas.