FROM A TTFA Insider = Name?
Obviously, it's Sheldon. Which is fair enough, as Bakes isn't here to speak for TTFA anymore. It's actually refreshing to hear direct from TTFA. But I am, of course, not in agreement with all of Sheldon's comments. For example, I clearly stated that "it is felt within the Ministry and SPORTT" and "people who help to orchestrate policy and implementation." If these were the feelings of myself or Sancho, I would have said that. Sheldon knows this is the feeling because when he attends meetings, they tell him these things! Yet he is now trying to say that it is myself and Sancho saying this. (Although some of those areas we may also believe!)
The Ministry has had a shocking history....one that parallels TTFF's! But I don't believe there are any "financial impropriety" at the feet of Minister Sancho?
We have a number of emails that were shared with MOS that show the breakdown of how the CONCACAF money would have been used and as far back as June 29, True enough. Sadly, we have emails from 25th of June from TTFA saying that CONCACAF only pay for internal flights and TTFA have to pay for travel to and from the host nation!
Sancho (and myself) both said that the match fees were too high if the Ministry was expected to pay them because the Cabinet note and subvention would be exhausted if we continued to pay those kind of fees. So said, so done. Now we had to pull teams out of competitions because money done. We also said that players should be paid more than they do, but that money should be sourced by TTFA. Is it so outrageous to expect an employer to pay wages? What if TTFA decide to pay US$3,000 match fee? Why do staff get match fees? Nobody expects anyone to work for free, even those representing their country, but the more money spent on match fees, the less is available for other national teams. The U23's and the women were the only athletes paid for attending PanAm. Sancho didn't get paid for playing at PanAm neither did players like Sean de Silva, Leston Paul etc. Pay them by all means, but source the funding from other directions.
All of this talk of interference and not wanting to pay was the Ministry trying to ensure that funds were not exhausted with debts outstanding. Any teenager will complain about his parents not giving him enough money and how they made him buy his own trainers when he wanted to go to a fete.
It's laughable that Sheldon describes RTK now as a victim. Who was the last sporting president to meet with Sancho? Who described Sancho as the "worst sport minister ever"? "Who refused to meet the Minister?" Of course, that wasn't aggressive, right?
As for running football, well, it seems no one else is! When does Pro League, Super League and TTFA sit down and plan a way forward? Anil Roberts tried to do it and it never happened. Football takes a huge slice of the MoS funding, which may be ok, but it has to be managed. We have a massive World Cup campaign on the horizon, but what about the other 10 national teams? They have campaigns too. It's a huge task for TTFA to manage, but it is clear that they need additional funding. This can only come from corporate or directly from the public. How can we attract this investment? Who is spearheading a player's association? How will it be funded? Who is developing a promotion/relegation plan for league football? How will that be funded?
Football does not belong to TTFA, it belongs to the people. The people do not vote for TTFA officers, they vote for governments. If they don't like what Sancho does, they can vote him out. They can't vote out RTK or his successor. They can't vote out Sheldon Phillips.
So, why can't the Ministry of Sport, football's biggest investor, have a say in how football is developed? The MoS can't make TTFA, Pro League or Super League do anything they don't want to. But perhaps they can develop a blueprint to a way forward?