Ramesh Ramdhan Thread

[Flex]

Ramdhan pursues legal action over unpaid salary.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).

GENERAL SECRETARY of the TT Football Association (TTFA) Ramesh Ramdhan said he is taking legal action after not being paid for over six months. Other TTFA staff members were paid outstanding salaries a week and a half ago by the normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad.

A local media outlet on Saturday reported that office staff at the TTFA had been paid outstanding salaries owed to them for the months of March, April, May and June totalling $400,000. Newsday was informed that the office staff were paid on July 9.

Technical director Dion La Foucade and director of football Richard Piper have also been paid.

National football teams' technical officials, including men’s coach Terry Fenwick, and communications officer Shaun Fuentes were also not included on the payroll. Fenwick has not been paid since he took up the post in January.

Ramdhan told Newsday on Saturday that he is confused why only some TTFA employees were paid.

Ramdhan, who also learned that several national coaches did not receive their outstanding salaries, is not pleased that he was not paid.

“I am very much concerned, I have a problem with that because that amounts to unequal treatment because I am head of the secretariat. I am in charge of the office and the office staff were paid and I was not. I am concerned and I am taking legal action.”

The normalisation committee was hired by FIFA to run local football in March, replacing the former TTFA executive which was led by president William Wallace. Wallace and his team call themselves the United TTFA.

Wallace was elected president of the TTFA last November, replacing David John-Williams.

Ramdhan said, “As head of the secretariat I thought I should have been the first person to be paid and you can quote me because right now I have no fear because I feel I am being discriminated against. I can’t understand why because I have a contract, I have been working hard, I have been working with Mr Hadad and I don’t understand his selective payment of persons.”

Ramdhan was hired in December, 2019 as general secretary shortly after Wallace won the elections. When the TTFA executive was removed by FIFA, Ramdhan held his position.

Ramdhan made every effort to ensure other staff at TTFA was taken care of. The TTFA general secretary said he organised a loan to pay other staff for the month of February, but Ramdhan asked not be included in that payment.

Ramdhan said he was told more than a month ago he would be paid “soon.”

Keith Look Loy, who was an instrumental member in the United TTFA election campaign, said he was happy for those who were paid. However, he said, “I am perplexed as anyone else as to why some staff were paid and others not.”

Look Loy said because the TTFA accounts are frozen by First Citizens he is uncertain how the normalisation committee got the money to pay the staff.

“Nobody seems to know who has paid the staff. Nobody seems to know where the money has come from. What is the origin and the source of the money? Under FIFA regulations, FIFA funding can only come into TTFA accounts…where has the money come from to pay these people. Is it private money? I don’t know…nobody can say what is the source of the money that was paid to staff and that is a total lack of transparency.”

Fenwick and Fuentes declined comment on the matter.

[Trini _2026]

Our football will mash up mash up bad bad bad bad bad after this .. lord have mercy

[Flex]

Ramdhan to write FIFA for his salary.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

General secretary of the T&T Football Association Ramesh Ramdhan has called on Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee to fire him if he wants to, promising he will not only take legal action against the normalisation committee but intends to write to the FIFA, the sport's governing body about non-payments of salaries to him alone.

Relations between the two men, though working in the interest of football in T&T, have been rocky, due to Ramdhan's alleged involvement with the ousted United T&TFA which comprises president William Wallace, and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Joseph Sam Phillip.

"I have written to Hadad, but no response. He wrote to me and asked me for a response within seven days but he got it in five. I still have not gotten an acknowledgement of my response. And I wrote him a legal letter giving him seven days to respond and seven days have gone and he still has not responded, so yes I may have to write FIFA and let FIFA know of the situation because he is the one who tells me he doesn't do anything without FIFA. And based on what I am seeing here on the FIFA website, I am still the general secretary, so then if he is treating me so, or he wants to fire me, it will be without the approval of the FIFA."

Ramdhan said that the office staff was paid their salaries last week, while he has not been paid for the last six months. He told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that the action of the Normalisation Committee headed Hadad is unfair, uncouth and dispassionate.

"I am the head of the secretariat, I am a staff member and you paid everybody else in the office. I understand Shaun Fuentes was paid eventually, but I remain unpaid, without any explanation. I cannot sit here anymore and be abused by Hadad and be treated unequally."

He said, "At least I have been working. I have been communicating with him, I have been sending stuff to him, I have never stopped working. I have sent other stuff to him to act upon and he has never acted. He keeps on saying soon. Soon is in some instances, three months or two months."

Ramdhan, a former T&T and FIFA World Cup referee believes Hadad's bias stems from his close relationship with former TTFA president David John-Williams. He said, "I know he's been taking advice from John-Williams because he said that. He said he speaks to David and David did some things wrong but the Wallace administration could be accused of the same thing. So, therefore, clearly, he is trying to put blame on the William Wallace-led administration, while having no issue with all the things that were highlighted that John-Williams did, including the financial dealings, despite him not paying NIS, Health Surcharge and PAYE."

Attempts to reach Hadad via phone call and WhatsApp for a response to Ramdhan's claims have been unsuccessful.

Guardian Media Sports reported on Friday that Ramdhan was not paid due to an issue with his contract being a two-year deal that was not approved by the Board of Directors of the T&TFA. The Board of Directors had approved a one-year contract for Ramdhan in January.

Wallace, who issued a release in June said he signed the contracts of Ramdhan, national coach Terry Fenwick and marketing representative Peter Miller, all of which were not approved by the board. He also stated that he exercised the power entrusted to him by the TTFA constitution when he gave Ramdhan a two-year contract.

Ramdhan has accused Hadad of putting personal information about his contract, and all the other contracts into the public domain.

Ramdhan told Guardian Media Sports that, "Only he (Ramdhan) and Hadad had copies of his contract."

He concluded by saying he came into football administration to effect change, but the recent development with him not being paid without a reason, has caused him to take a stance against vindictiveness and injustice.

[Flex]

Ramdhan's first casualty of dubious football contracts.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan - now suspended.

T&T Football Association (TTFA) General Secretary Ramesh Ramdhan became the first casualty of questionable and unapproved contracts of the United T&TFA, which is now challenging the sport's governing body for its survival.

Ramdhan, whose two-year contract itself, instead of a one-year deal was cited by the Board of Directors a few months ago, raised eyebrows of concern, and probably pointed to one of many reasons for the FIFA enforcing Article 8.2 of the FIFA Statutes which states: ‘Executive bodies of member associations may under exceptional circumstances be removed from office by the Council in consultation with the relevant confederation and replaced by a normalisation committee for a specific period on March 17.

Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee which also comprised attorney Judy Daniel and former banker Nigel Romano on Wednesday issued a letter to the TTFA membership which sought to clear the air on questions raised by the sports constitutional expert Osmond Downer which included the reasons for not allowing Ramdhan to be a signatory to a request by the TTFA membership, for an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) requested last month.

The letter was signed and distributed by Hadad, and a date of September 15 is set for the EGM that will begin a process to stop former TTFA president William Wallace and his three vice presidents Joseph Sam Phillip, Clynt Taylor and Susan Joseph-Warrick and associates Keith Look Loy, the president of the T&T Super League and Anthony Harford, the president of the Northern Football Association, from taking legal action against FIFA to remove the normalisation committee that was appointed on March 27.

On Monday, Downer said, while his intent was not to obstruct the staging of the emergency general meeting by the membership, but rather to ensure it was done according to the TTFA constitution, he asked: "Why was the Convocation letter for this EGM not signed by the constitutionally appointed General Secretary of the TTFA, as has always been the accepted practice for all General Meetings held for all the past very many years? As stated in my last letter to you of August 30, FIFA, in its letters of March 17th and 27th 2020, the Executive (Board of Directors) of the TTFA by the NC. FIFA did not suspend the Constitution of the TTFA. Neither did FIFA remove the General Secretary. In fact, as stated in my August 30th letter, I understand that FIFA, on the contrary, wrote the GS, after the installation of the NC, requesting him to work with and cooperate with the NC. I understand, also, that in the recent installation of an NC in neighbouring Guyana, FIFA appointed Mr Richard Groden from T&T to be the Secretary to the Guyana NC. Could this be the reason why FIFA requested our GS to work with the NC as Secretary to the Committee?"

Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies, stated that, "The TTFA General Secretary has been suspended pending an inquiry into the entry of several contracts by the TTFA. We wish to make it clear that we are not imputing any dishonest motive against the general secretary. The general secretary has made a request that the matter be referred to mediation for a resolution to which we have agreed."

According to Hadad's letter: "We do not wish comment further on this matter at this time to preserve the integrity of the process and the reputations of all concerned. We note that in accordance with the TTFA Constitution, the chairman of the TTFA Normalisation Committee, which now acts as the Executive Body of the TTFA, is vested with the authority to issue correspondence."

Downer also questioned why was the Member Associations of the TTFA, the real employers of the GS, not informed of the suspension of the general secretary, if that is true, and given the reasons why.

Contacted on Wednesday, Ramdhan said he is unsure why charges were laid on him. He told Guardian Media Sports, Hadad told him he was dissatisfied with his (Ramdhan's) role in signing the contracts for the Avec Sports deal which showed $25 million for four years in January, as well as the Peter Miller contract for $20 million to be the TTFA marketing representative at the same time.

Ramdhan, a member of the ousted United TTFA who was kept on as general secretary of the normalisation committee, said he was spared charges for his and the Terry Fenwick contracts, as well as the Lavender deal, which was set to land T&T US$12 million upon signing. With the Lavender contract, the United TTFA was set to transform the Arima Velodrome into a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility with commercial, residential and sporting opportunities at one venue.

Ramdhan said the contracts do not implicate the TTFA in any way, hence why he was confused by the decision of the chairman. "I even offered to have Hadad speak with sponsors - Avec Sports, Peter Miller.

Hadeed, the market personal in the Avec Sports deal, but he was told by the FIFA that he should not talk to any of the sponsors. The offer was for him to see for himself by talking to the people involved in the contracts, and see if there was anything wrong with the contracts, but he refused," Ramdhan explained.

He said, "I signed the contracts with the knowledge that it would have brought benefit to T&T, but they did not materialise." Ramdhan said he has since taken legal action about the matter.

Hadad's letter also dealt with concerns regarding delegates and votes, the convening of an EGM and the infringement of articles 14(4) in the constitution, all of which were raised by Downer.

According to Hadad in Article 22: Delegates and votes: "The voting officer at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) is the Member Delegate. The eight-member delegates of the TT Super League are elected on an annual basis and remain unchanged unless changes are officially communicated by the member. Member clubs of any particular Member, who are not Delegates, may observe the EGM, at the discretion of the General Meeting, but have no rights to debate or vote."

Hadad also pointed to Article 29(2) of the constitution to answer concerns on the convening of an EGM, saying: "A request to convene an EGM was received from more than 50 per cent of the accredited TTFA Member Delegates. In reply, the TTFA Normalisation Committee issued convocation for an EGM to be held on Tuesday 15 September 2020. It should be noted that at least three TTFA members communicated to the TTFA, in writing of changes to Member Delegates prior to the Normalisation Committee receiving the request by the Member Delegates to convene the EGM."

Concerning the infringement of Article 14 (4) Hadad explained that sporting activities were affected around the world by the COVID19 pandemic, saying they remain guided by the Minutes of the 2019 AGM held on November 24, 2019 where no matters were raised that cited Article 14 regarding the suspension of Member's rights to vote.

[Flex]

Ramdhan: TTFA vowing to resume work with Miller, Lavender
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

The membership of local football will again be called upon to decide on the way forward.

On Friday, the T&T court is expected to rule in favour of the T&T Football Association, being led by William Wallace, as the legitimate administrators of TT football since the sport's world governing body FIFA, did not submit a defence in the matter which comes up against Justice Carol Gobin in the T&T High Court.

Ramesh Ramdhan, who was suspended by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee from hos post as General Secretary, said the TTFA has already begun reaching out to their sponsors to resume talks to pump money into T&T football and thereby jump-start initial plans that they had.

The plan is to convince the membership that the suspension handed to the TTFA on September 24 for its failure to drop a court battle with FIFA over the right to appoint a normalisation committee to manage the sports for the next two years might be a blessing in disguise.

Ramdhan told Guardian Media Sports yesterday that said he has already reached out to Peter Miller, the controversial TTFA marketing representative to resume work, while the multi-million-dollar Lavender deal to construct a multi-purpose sporting, commercial and residential facility above the Arima Velodrome, is still on the table for government's involvement.

Ramdhan said apart from UK sportswear firm Avec Sports and Architectural company Lavender, which is also based in London, the TTFA has secured the support of another sponsor by the name of Danian Prescott, a US-based T&T sportsman who organises sporting events abroad.

According to Ramdhan, Prescott has a lot of sponsors at his fingertip and wants to organise a comprehensive grassroots football league in T&T with the sponsors he has. The league will have attractive prize monies and a total development format. Apart from prize monies for the top teams, an All-Star team will also be selected to visit Charleston Athletic Club in England at the end of the season to play games there.

Ramdhan said once they can convince the membership at an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) to be called after Friday's judgement, the TTFA will get the opportunity it wants to properly restructure local football and introduce a comprehensive development plan, during the period the country would be serving its suspension.

"It was unlikely the country would have qualified for the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar in any way, so the country can put things in place for 2026 which is very realistic. Once we bring the sponsors back then we will have enough money to fund the local game and pay additional bills. We will get football back on its feet better than before. In fact, if better work was done on the Home of Football, then the facility could have been used to create a bio bubble," Ramdhan explained.

The TTFA, as part of its grand plan to revive T&T football, was set to dismantle the T&T Pro League and T&T Super League and replace them with a Premier and First Division tournaments which were set to be given proper names after consultation with the membership earlier this year.

Ramdhan said it was only Brent Sancho, the T&T Pro league chairman and Julia Baptiste, the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who have prevented the start of the action.

"When we came into office, our immediate plans were to fire Lawrence due to his poor run of results with the national team and to dismantle the T&T Pro League, as it had been anything but progressive. It would have had prize monies, promotion and demotion and television rights, which would have been shared with the clubs. The only thing we requested was for the TTFA to manage the competitions and pay all the clubs, but the Pro League executives did not want that."

[Tiresais]

I presume they meant Charlton Athletic? See the badge, would be well-chuffed with that

[maxg]

I presume they meant Charlton Athletic? See the badge, would be well-chuffed with that

"Ramdhan said apart from UK sportswear firm Avec Sports and Architectural company Lavender, which is also based in London, the TTFA has secured the support of another sponsor by the name of Danian Prescott, a US-based T&T sportsman who organises sporting events abroad.

According to Ramdhan, Prescott has a lot of sponsors at his fingertip and wants to organise a comprehensive grassroots football league in T&T with the sponsors he has. The league will have attractive prize monies and a total development format. Apart from prize monies for the top teams, an All-Star team will also be selected to visit Charleston Athletic Club in England at the end of the season to play games there."


These are the type of things that give me pause...baubles and shiny stones, from where we have no idea...and one just can only hope the messenger not relating the story totally exact.   An American agent and event organizer referencing an English club and events but reported as an American city name, gives one a moment of pause...as a lil birdie flies across the back of the mind screeching 'scam' 'scam' 'scam'.  we try to disregard, but given all that has gone down, we will be remiss if we just not investigate EVERYTHING y'all say. Who is Danian Prescott, and how much prime land he and Miller plan to sell us to build condos in beautiful reclaimed lands of the Caroni swamp ? 

[asylumseeker]

Yeah, dahis not a helpful contribution or a good look right this minute with matters sub judice. Not confidence building, riddled with questions and speculation that have not been quelled. Injudicious! Maybe even playing to the gallery. And also maybe further riddled with unilaterality and a lack of consultation.

Alibey, is Ramdhan suspended?

[Flex]

Ramdhan calls on Hadad to pay TTFA credits.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).

Ramesh Ramdhan, the suspended general secretary of the T&T Football Association is calling on Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee to pay back monies he credited from three companies for the interest of football.

Ramdhan is also set to take legal action against Hadad for wrongful suspension when the Normalisation Committee replaced the embattled football association initially in March of this year.

Ramdhan told Guardian Media Sports on Monday that credit was taken to pay the salaries of the staff of the T&TFA in February; pay to cover airfare and accommodation for the country's Under-20 Women's team to compete at the CONCACAF Championship in the Dominican Republic earlier this year, and for insurance for the controversial Home of Football earlier this year because of his good name.

Ramdhan explained that the normalization committee chairman has been attempting to determine the veracity of his claims for about eight months now.

"At the 11th hour, before that team flew out to the Dominican Republic, we could not get travel arrangements finalized for them because we didn't have the money. A friend of mine, a travel agent friend of mine, I begged her, because we had already paid for a two-week camp which FIFA paid for direct to the supplier of that camp, two weeks before the competition. Had I not gotten those tickets for those players, that camp would not have come off and money would have been wasted and we would not have been able to participate at that u-20 Championship," Ramdhan explained.

He said: "At the last minute, the Friday night all those tickets were cut without payment, and that was a goodwill credit given to the TTFA because of me, now I am being asked about that payment and the information on this was sent to Hadad since in April, and he has to verify the veracity of that credit, saying as soon as he does that and he gets the money he will pay. The year has been completed and now I am being asked about that bill which is approximately US$35, 000, that someone put out on behalf of the T&TFA through me because of a personal relationship, and to date that cannot be resolved."

However, Hadad responded, "The TTFA owes significant amounts to numerous creditors based on decisions taken by previous administrations. The Normalization Committee (NC) was installed to address the debt situation but we have to assess the legitimacy and transparency of all contracts. Having been reinstated in November, the NC will be meeting to negotiate with many of the valid creditors very soon."

T&T Women's team performed with credit, reaching the quarterfinal of the Championship where they were beaten 4-0 by giants Mexico. Before that the u-20 women, after being hammered 0-7 by Haiti, (T&T) thrashed St Kitts/Nevis 6-0; and shut-out the Cayman Islands 2-0, before prevailing over Puerto Rico 5-4 on penalties following a 3-3 tie in the round of 16.

Hadad said, "It's important to remember that the organization is insolvent so any decision taken has to have a holistic appreciation of all aspects of the situation.

In addition, the Home of Football is still being used as a Covid-19 step-down facility and has all the requisite coverages."

In February, Ramdhan, a former T&T and FIFA referee were also instrumental in ensuring that the staff of the football association was paid when he borrowed TT$99, 405.08. to cover wages from a friend.

Apart from these the issues highlighted that needed payment, Hadad has the responsibility of stabilizing the T&TFA which has been burdened with a debt of between $60 million to $80 million presently.

[Flex]

Ramdhan challenges TTFA $98.5M debt.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).

A response by the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) on Tuesday to concerns raised by the T&T Football Association’s (TTFA) membership on May 1, appeared to have raised more questions than it provided answers.

Ramesh Ramdhan, the former TTFA general secretary who worked for several months with the NC before he was suspended, has raised a number of questions surrounding the TT$98.5 million debt.

Ramdhan believes that the response by the normalisation committee which is chaired by businessman Robert Hadad, and includes Attorney Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano, and Trevor Gomez, only served to confirm the ill intention of the appointment of the NC by FIFA, rather than to fix the issues plaguing local football, inclusive of the debt.

The local football members, in a stinging 15-page document accused Hadad and his committee of mismanaging the affairs of the sport, and called on the Hadad-led committee to stick to the mandate given by FIFA to stabilise local football, clear the existing debt and prepare for fresh football election to be held after a period of two years.

The NC in a four-page unsigned response summarised that the TTFA has, for the past decade been on the verge of insolvency, not only because of the debt but because of decisions in the past that continue to increase its financial burdens.

Hadad, via the services of accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) has put the debt at $98.5 million to date, which he promised will be cleared by both entities - EY and the NC.

Ramdhan, a former FIFA World Cup referee, said the report is an indication that Hadad and his committee are incapable of achieving its mandate and FIFA is well aware of it.

“What FIFA did by bringing a committee is to use a nuclear weapon which will destroy everything. The nuclear weapon is the normalisation committee to achieve the removal of the previous administration, which promised to be transparent and disclose the whole thing with the Home of Football (Couva) and how the monies were spent. That is all FIFA wanted to achieve and they achieved it, so they have put the TTFA in a worse position,” he said.

Only recently certain members of the TTFA questioned the sincerity of the sport’s world governing body for football after they failed to get as simple as a letter of acknowledgement to their letter of concern on May 1, sent to all the NC members and the FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura.

“Are they really interested in solving the problems with T&T football?” one member asked.

Ramdhan, who was quick to dissect the NC letter, challenged the veracity of the TTFA debt and questioned the new figures that were highlighted for the salaries of coaches Derek King, an assistant to senior team coach Terry Fenwick, Kelvin Jack, the goalkeeper coach for all the national teams, and why the NC has paid for futsal coach Constantine Konstin.

According to Ramdhan: “What Ernst and Young did was what we got done for free which was verifying the debt. Our debt stood at $53 million and there were other things that were factored in separately, like the debt to Jack Warner which is estimated at TT$23 million, and a couple other financial matters which are yet to be determined and which if you add all, came up to about TT$71 million dollars.

"What they paid EY to do, our auditors of Madan Ramnarine and Company, who were the TTFA auditors confirmed the debt and had an audited financial statement completed for 2019 and that formed part of FIFA’s mission report. So unless he factored in all the contracts that were given under Wallace, and not considering that Terry Fenwick’s contract was a one-year contract in the first instance, then there’re certain achievable.

"Then we were paying Kelvin Jack, the goalkeeper coach TT$20,000, a month and I saw where it's quoted as US$9,000 which is a lot more money than we agreed to pay him. We gave him a one-year contract for $20,000 per month, and he couldn’t do anything because he couldn’t come to T&T. Then, I see they raised Derek King’s salary from US$6,000 a month to US$8,000 so I don’t know what is the rationale for changing those. All the coaches we appointed were up to August after the competitions. So I don’t understand how they arrived at that exorbitant figure of close to a million dollars.

"Also, the futsal coach wasn’t being paid by the TTFA. Edwards who is the president of the Futsal Association had made arrangements for Konstin to be paid. We were only paying the manager who was Nigel Roberts and everything was handled by the futsal association.”

Hadad told Guardian Media Sports earlier this year that several debt-eradicating initiatives were being considered to clear the existing debt, including mortgaging the controversial Home of Football. Despite rumours now of ongoing work to fix the Home of Football now by the normalisation committee, there are questions of how Ernst and Young, in a collaborative effort with the normalisation committee, can clear the existing debt of the TTFA, unless there is some kind of revenue stream to do so.

Under the Wallace-led administration, the United TTFA, a series of initiatives to reduce the debt, including the transformation of the Arima Velodrome to a multi-purpose-residential, commercial, and sporting state-of-the-art facility by UK architectural firm Lavendar, to the Avec Sports deal, to hosting English Premiership giants Manchester City for an international friendly match with the T&T team, but all fell flat upon their removal.

Ramdhan said the sport faces a difficult situation with the abandonment of corporate citizens in T&T, the reluctance of the government to get involved and the inability of the current administration to do anything.