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Author Topic: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football  (Read 141993 times)

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Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #720 on: September 24, 2020, 08:58:42 AM »
Good article Colin. But 2 things.

1. Happy Republic Day


We are not a happy republic. What is the difference between independence and being a republic. In case of TT, very little. We still don't control our own destiny. We still have to go to the privy council. A waste of public holiday.

2. Where is Jack Warner when you need him?

Are You serious Colin. He is the cause of all this bullshit. The less we mention his name the better.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #721 on: September 24, 2020, 11:03:51 AM »
Wallace bows to ‘bullying’ FIFA
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).


FORMER president of the TT Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace admitted he was hesitant in agreeing to withdraw the legal matter against FIFA because the world football body will continue to have its way with T&T football.

A TTFA membership meeting was held on Tuesday night which allowed the TTFA membership to unofficially vote if they wanted the United TTFA to continue its court matter against FIFA.

A media release was sent by the United TTFA at 1 pm on Wednesday, confirming the decision to withdraw the matter.

The release sent by the United TTFA, said, “Of the participating member representatives 21 called on the United TTFA to end its legal challenge to FIFA, while eight were in favour of it being continued and three abstained. We, the signatories, accept this call.” United TTFA was fighting FIFA’s decision to remove the executive of the United TTFA in March and appoint a normalisation committee to run local football. The normalisation committee is led by local businessman Robert Hadad.

Wednesday was the United TTFA’s final deadline to withdraw its matter from the High Court. The United TTFA is also not considering taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The United TTFA release did not include the names of Wallace and Clynt Taylor. The release was issued by second vice-president Susan Joseph-Warrick, third vice-president Joseph Sam Phillip, Anthony Harford and Keith Look Loy.

In Wallace’s affidavit in support of the application for permission to withdraw the case, he said he acknowledged that the majority wanted the matter to be withdrawn.

However, Wallace said he wanted to continue with the case. “I do not believe the claim should be withdrawn…I believe the defendant is more afraid than ever before, particularly in the wake of the public revelations into alleged acts of financial mismanagement...”

Wallace continued, “To ask this court for permission to withdraw this claim on the day before Republic Day, and in so doing tacitly accepting that football in T&T continues to be at the whim and fancy of the defendant, who is bullying and coercing the TTFA into bending its knee, makes me feel physically sick. It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.”

Wallace told Newsday he was not “mentally ready” to include his name on the United TTFA media release.

“I took a decision that I was not ready to sign any document, but if the team wanted to send one out that it (must) go out but I was not ready mentally to sign the document.”

Pressed more about why he was not ready to include his name, Wallace said, “When you say you are not ready mentally that is sometimes what you can’t explain because it is a mental thing. It is a sense of readiness you know.”

Asked if he has confidence in the normalisation committee to run T&T football, he said, “I would not say confidence. I can’t describe it as confidence, but I wish them the best of luck.”

The United TTFA release said the “majority of representatives were motivated by fear of FIFA’s threat to suspend TTFA.”

FIFA was threatening to suspend T&T if the United TTFA continued their fight against them.

The Concacaf Gold Cup draw will be held on Monday and T&T would have been excluded from the competition.

“The second FIFA deadline and the desire to participate in the draw for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup have changed the balance of power. People see Concacaf’s move but fear FIFA’s big stick and missing the tournament.”

The United TTFA release also reminded the T&T football stakeholders that FIFA now has complete control.

“We caution T&T that the owners of football have voluntarily agreed to cede the right to govern ourselves to FIFA. We caution that FIFA is now and hereafter the final arbiter of who will be the government of local football. This makes a sham of our sovereignty. It may not matter to some, but our football has been colonized. We call on our supporters to be vigilant and we wish TTFA the best of success.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline pull stones

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #722 on: September 24, 2020, 11:31:52 AM »
Had to listen to bullerman brent sancho on the news last night calling for fifa to sanction the six United ttfa executives, he’s such a frikin salty 4k, I hate him so much. apart from shaka Hislop and a very small few of those guys who went germany, the rest of that team turned out to be a bunch of self serving dicks.

I remember brent leading the way against jack warner causing the whole team to be banned from representing the country, how is it that he forgot that? and when players like yorke ,latapy , lawrence and stern John broke ranks he was desperately distressed and angered. now to hear him stand in support of fifa against a similar injustice is hypocritical and selfish.

today TT football has lost a lot of supporters including me, and as the years roll on I have become more and more disenchanted with football in that country. it seem like every time there’s a move to fix the country someone with a selfish motive comes along and sets the place back decades. as for fifa and DJW, I’ll be praying that they crumble like a deck of cards. I could hardly wait.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2020, 03:10:43 PM by pull stones »

Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #723 on: September 24, 2020, 11:59:30 AM »
pull stones, do not despair Breds, we will overcome this impasse. History will show them siding with the the den of thieves. Let's just move on. When ever I come back to TT, I will sort United TTFA, more so Keith and Sam(74 youth team). I used to bwah him wihen he was with Jack. But this time he was on the right side even though they had to give. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.th

Offline Brownsugar

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #724 on: September 24, 2020, 04:45:06 PM »

A media release was sent by the United TTFA at 1 pm on Wednesday, confirming the decision to withdraw the matter.


I missed this yesterday.....wow!!  And still get jam by FIFA today....I'm done with T&T football....I doh have patience for shyte!!
"...If yuh clothes tear up
Or yuh shoes burst off,
You could still jump up when music play.
Old lady, young baby, everybody could dingolay...
Dingolay, ay, ay, ay ay,
Dingolay ay, ay, ay..."

RIP Shadow....The legend will live on in music...

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #725 on: September 25, 2020, 06:07:28 PM »
There are recourses against retaliation. Hopefully ego will sit in the back seat and commonsense will drive the vehicle.

Well, hmm. The common sense points go to CONCACAF. And the recourse arguments are in process (tacit coercion etc.) Award points there.

Guess who doesn't get a point this round.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2020, 06:13:45 PM by asylumseeker »

Offline Tallman

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #726 on: September 28, 2020, 02:18:26 PM »
Embattled TTFA President ‘not surprised’ by lack Of support from regional football bodies
By Carlena Knight (Antigua Observer)


Former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace says he was not surprised by the fact he received no public support from regional associations in the country’s fight against FIFA.

For several months, the TTFA has been in a legal battle with the world governing body following the installation of a normalisation committee earlier this year.

This prompted several of the executive members to take legal action in the local courts in Trinidad after the executive withdrew its complaint from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

FIFA, as a result of the group not complying with regulations, suspended the TTFA despite them having withdrawn the case in the local courts.

Wallace at the time of his campaign against FIFA revealed that he had reached out to a number of regional football bodies but was not surprised that none of them came to the TTFA’s aid.

“There were a couple of people who spoke to us off air and they indicated that they disagreed with the whole situation and they support us and so on but nobody came out and actually showed open support,” Wallace explained.

“I have come to the place in my life where I am not surprised that people just don’t stand up for anything anymore and everybody just stays in their corner and see how they can benefit. We have become a selfish world so the Caribbean is not exempted from that so I wasn’t really surprised. Once it is not happening to you, you’re good,” he added.

Wallace, speaking on the Good Morning JoJo sports show on Thursday morning, believes that a united front from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members could have brought significant influence to this matter.

“The only time that we can be strong is if we come together because the Caribbean is a large block of countries. I mean it’s 31 countries you are talking about and if at least three quarters of that had come together and said ‘no, this needs to be dealt in a different way’ then I am sure it would have gone down a different road because people would have had to take note of that,” he said.

“I mean we have asked at least seven times to be given an opportunity to be heard, we asked for dialogue seven times and we were denied all seven times,” Wallace added.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #727 on: October 14, 2020, 03:02:28 AM »
Resistance to Fifa is futile: fall in line or prepare to be Normalised
By Barney Ronay
theguardian.com


There is plenty up for grabs after the collapse of club football’s TV rights power base – and Fifa is ready to grab it

Nobody wants a visit from the Normalisation Committee. This was the fate of the Samoan FA in June 2008 after concerns were raised about the state of its finances. At which point Fifa fired up the corvette and sent in its platoon of tuxedoed Mr Fix-its.

Let’s be clear. Nobody wants a visit from this Normalisation Committee. The team of high moral priests sent to the Samoan FA’s door that day were handpicked by a specially convened Fifa emergency committee, a delegation that read, in no particular order: Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, Issa Hayatou, Michel Platini, Reynald Temarii, Mohammad bin Hammam and Nicolás Leoz.

Or to give them their full Seven Dwarves-style nicknames: Six Year Ban Guy, Criminal Charges Guy, TV Rights Fine Guy, Dishonest Payment Guy, Eight Year Ban Guy, Life Ban Guy and of course everyone’s favourite crime-fighting administrator, Interpol Red Notice Guy. Here they come, the lads: a perfumed kerchief held to their noses, here to de-corrupt your football association.

Twelve years on the Samoa emergency committee is arguably one of the best jokes modern football has ever come up with. Just how abnormal do you have to be to require this degree of normalising? But then these were the golden years of footballing chicanery, when the yak-hide handbags flowed like wine and when Fifa could basically do as it wished.

The anomaly was that Samoa fought back. In a rare show of resistance the Samoan FA appealed to the court of arbitration for sport. It didn’t work. The appeal was rejected and the good times continued to roll at Fifa house, reaching a peak with the bribe-shadowed World Cup bid decisions that would prove an act of hubris even for that thoroughly debauched regime.

And so to the present day. Replace one bald, unctuous Swiss with a slightly younger bald, unctuous Swiss and something similar is happening in the Caribbean, a test case for where we may be heading in the struggle for the heart, soul and wallet of world football.

The Trinidad & Tobago FA experienced its own visit from the Fifa Normalisers in March after another shemozzle over debt. Like Samoa the TTFA has fought back. Another appeal has been lodged at Cas, this time via crowdfunded legal action.

Fifa’s move does seem bizarrely aggressive. The deposed TTFA committee had been in place for only four months, having seen off Gianni Infantino’s favoured candidate David John-Williams in a local vote.

The TTFA board member Keith Look Loy has accused Fifa of acting like “a colonial absentee landlord”. The former Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has called the intervention “a coup”. In an excellent twist the leader of the ousted rebel FA is even called William Wallace. They can take our lives but they’ll never take … our freebies.

Much has been made by the ancien régime of Look Loy and co’s historic association with the disgraced Jack Warner, once of the Samoan Normalisation Committee and now avoiding the US justice system.

Asked about rumours he might have lobbied for the Wallace campaign – something Wallace fiercely denies – Warner told the broadcaster Andre Errol Baptiste of Port of Spain-based i95.5fm: “Even if that was the case, and by the way that is not the case, and it means that is the beginning of the way to lift football in the country, so be it. What’s wrong with that?” Which pretty much clears that one up.

What is actually happening here? This might feel like a dispute at the edge of things, with plenty that is undesirable on both sides, but Fifa’s actions seem extraordinarily high-handed and patrician, even by its own standards, evidence of the increasing hawkishness of the Infantino regime. As the Norwegian Josimar website has pointed out the man in charge of all this normalisation is even one of Infantino’s best friends, his old university chum Véron Mosengo-Omba.

This matters right now. There is a great deal up for grabs a month into the total collapse of club football’s broadcast rights power base. This perhaps explains why Fifa’s public statements during the Covid-19 crisis have been almost alarmingly relaxed. Fifa may suspend all international football. Fifa may, we hear, dig into its £2bn cash fund to bail out clubs and leagues.

“Never let a serious crisis go to waste” is an overused line in the current uncertainty but you can bet Infantino has it inked on the back of his hand. Make no mistake Fifa has a great deal to gain at a time when every entity that has tried to resist its power, from Premier League to Uefa to the poor old TTFA, is significantly weakened.

The collapse of the Blatter-Warner-Platini era hit Fifa hard but not that hard. Money continued to flow but what Fifa really wants is power, most noticeably in its shadow-struggle with club football, where Infantino is convinced it is Fifa’s destiny to take a stronger role.

This seemed to be coming to a head late last year as Florentino Pérez presented a breakaway plan led by the richest clubs to cut out domestic leagues, with Fifa seemingly in close, approving pursuit.

APRIL - 2020

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #728 on: October 18, 2020, 12:47:06 AM »
EFA boss Edwards wants NC to return
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


Letter to TTFA Membership

On October 25, the membership of football in T&T will decide on the way forward for the sport, coming on the heels of the T&T Football Association’s (TTFA) triumph in the court, and a FIFA suspension that has caused tension among the football fraternity.

Following on a promise by TTFA president William Wallace, a letter was sent out to the membership for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that will have on the agenda, “The way Forward- FIFA Suspension”.

Keith Look Loy, the outspoken TTFA member who resigned on Friday, said the membership “will be faced with choices: to support the Wallace administration in its other legal battles (in the Appeal Court and in CAS): to call on Wallace to end the legal campaign: to call on him and the officers to resign or seek to remove them; to call on the government to amend Act 10 of 1982 to allow for FIFA intervention in TTFA governance; and to call on FIFA to enter T&T to exert control over TTFA”.

However, Kieron Edwards, president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) of T&T, in an immediate response, called for there to be additions to the agenda, namely: the removal of the current TTFA executive which includes the presidents and all the vice presidents, and the immediate installation of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee to be the new executive.

To justify his claim, Edwards, the initiator of a petition that was designed to force the TTFA to drop the court matter against the FIFA a couple of months ago, outlined 11 reasons for his claim, including the fact that under the United TTFA, the country was suspended for the first time in its history.

Following the suspension on Republic Day, the FIFA issued a condition to which the TTFA can regain entry into football’s world membership and it includes - aligning its Statutes with that of the FIFA and totally dropping all court-related matters involving the FIFA.

Upon the suspension, the United TTFA instructed their attorneys to resume the court battle for leadership of TT football, challenge the suspension in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and filing an Injunctive Relief in the CAS. Since that on September 25, the TTFA was given a date of December 18 to meet the FIFA criteria if the suspension has to be lifted.

Edwards believes his call for the return of the normalisation committee, which was headed by businessman Robert Hadad, as well as the removal of the Wallace-led executive, will help achieve this.

Among the 11 reasons to justify Edwards’ claim, are:

JUSTIFICATIONS:

1. On September 24, 2020 (TTFA) has been suspended with immediate effect and until further notice by FIFA. Consequently, the TTFA loses all its membership right with immediate effect. TTFA representatives and club teams are therefore no longer entitled to take part in international competitions until the suspension is lifted. This also means that, as of September 24, 2020, neither the TTFA nor any of its members or officials may benefit from any development programmes, courses or training from FIFA or the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). This suspension was a result of Mr William Wallace instituting legal action against FIFA when the agreed procedure was to take the matter to CAS. This action also contravenes Article 15 part b of the TTFA constitution:

2. The president and his associates known as the United TTFA elected to take this action without seeking the approval of the board of directors or the members of TTFA and the action resulted in the suspension of TTFA and by extension T&T. The TTFA constitution states: “Article1 Name, headquarters, legal form one, the national football federation of the Republic of T&T shall be called the T&T Football Association (TTFA). TTFA is a private organisation of an associative nature in compliance with the relevant legislation of the Republic of T&T and incorporated by Act of Parliament (#17 of 1982). It is formed for an unlimited period. 2 Its headquarters is located in Port-of-Spain:

3. TTFA is a member of FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU. Therefore Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA has perpetuated the expulsion of the TTFA from FIFA through the violations of FIFA statutes and as such he as president has not upheld the constitution of TTFA and he should be removed:

4. FIFA has stipulated that the suspension of TTFA would only be removed if the current court case is withdrawn, the Normalisation Committed is recognised as the legitimate executive of TTFA and the current TTFA constitution is amended to agree with the FIFA constitution. Therefore, for the suspension to be lifted the current executive must be removed and the Normalisation Committee appointed as the new Executive of TTFA:

5. The TTFA constitution sites the reasons for the expulsion of a TTFA member. Article 15 states: “Expulsion 1 The general meeting may expel a Member if: a) fulfil to fulfill its financial obligations towards TTFA; b) it seriously violates the Statutes, regulations, directives or decisions of FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and TTFA; c) it brings a dispute to an Ordinary Court, except in cases where the FIFA, CONCACAF or TTFA regulations or binding legal provisions specifically provide for or stipulate recourse to Ordinary Courts; 2 The presence of a majority (more than 50 per cent) of the members eligible to vote is necessary for an expulsion to be valid, and the motion for expulsion must be adopted by a three-quarter majority of the valid votes cast.” Therefore Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA are clearly in contravention of the TTFA constitution Article 15 parts b and c and can be expelled under these sections. 3:

(6) Mr Wallace has admitted freely in the press that he has signed multimillion-dollar contracts in excess of amounts approved by of the board of directors. He also admitted signing contracts that he specifically hid from the TTFA board Of Directors and this is clearly incompetence on the part of the president and he should be removed accordingly:

(7) Without the funding from FIFA, football in T&T would be greatly retarded with FIFA normally funding T&T national teams in international competitions. In addition, the government of T&T has also stated that if TTFA is suspended they would also withdraw their financial support for TTFA and local football. Therefore, TTFA cannot administer football in T&T without the financial support of FIFA and the government of T&T:

(8.) If the suspension by FIFA is not lifted then T&T would be unable to compete in the Gold Cup, World Cup and all other international football tournaments. In addition, our referees would be unable to officiate in international tournaments:

(9) The president and his associates known as the United TTFA have blatantly ignored the wishes of the members of TTFA as a significant majority of members have communicated informally with him to cease the court action and he has refused to do so:

(10) The Prime Minister and Minister of Sports have also tried to persuade Mr Wallace and his associates known as the United TTFA to cease their court action and to comply with the requests of FIFA but here too they have ignored the highest authority in T&T and so they must be removed in order for football to survive in our twin-island state:

(11) Mr Wallace has also failed to exercise his duties as president. Article 39 of the TTFA constitution states that the duties of the president are as follows: “President 1 - The president represents TTFA legally.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #729 on: October 19, 2020, 12:25:03 AM »
Football membership wants NC return, executive ousted.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


T&T could be back in the fold of FIFA and be among the teams to contest the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary rounds as well as the FIFA/CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers after all.

At least so it seems, from a consensus of the sport's membership, who is set for the October 25 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to lobby for the return of the Normalisation Committee, as well as the removal of the current football executive.

United T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace, despite their triumph in the High Court last week, has ensured that the membership will decide on the way forward for the sport.

Wallace on the I95.5FM Andre Baptiste programme on Saturday fended off a call by Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards for the agenda to include the removal of the current executive, as well as the return of the normalisation committee, which comprises businessmen Robert Hadad and Nigel Romano, and Attorney Judy Daniel, saying while the agenda cannot have any inclusions, the nature of the meeting would allow for any proposal.

The EFA boss in a document on Friday gave reasons why the proposition to bring back the normalisation committee and remove Wallace and his team of Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip was crucial and necessary. However, Wallace sought to clear the air, saying after the ruling on Tuesday last, they immediately proposed an agenda, date and time for the EGM to his Board members and nine out of 13 agreed.

He said initially seven members out of 13 agreed, which still represented a majority but subsequent to that, they got nine out of the 13 members that responded agreeing with the proposed date and agenda. He explained also that he spoke to Edwards about his proposal and explained that because the majority of the members had agreed to the agenda and date, there could be no additions to the agenda.

"However, what I indicated is that because of the nature of the agenda, it is broad as it is wide. It said to discuss the way forward, so that way forward can include as many things as is possible. If it means getting any impediments out of the way, that can be discussed. The meeting is scheduled for the 25th," Wallace said.

Attempts to make contact with Wallace, yesterday, proved futile.

Meanwhile, Richard Quan Chan, the Southern Football Association (SFA) president said the removal of the current executive and return of the normalisation committee has always been the obvious thing if T&T is to contest the qualifiers of both the CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifiers.

"This is what I got from the agenda- 'discussing the way forward'. Once we accept the normalisation committee and allow it to do what FIFA wants, including sorting out the TTFA Statutes and bring it in line with that of FIFA, we should be back as a FIFA member and back in the qualifiers," said Quan Chan, who dismissed the ruling of High Court Justice Carol Gobin to recognise the United TTFA as the legitimate body to manage T&T football.

"One of my major concerns with Justice Gobin was her being emotional by seeing FIFA's challenge as one that was pushing aside the law of the country and pushing her aside as an individual, as opposed to her ruling on the basis of the Law and the Statutes."

Monday, the Court of Appeal is expected to hear an appeal from FIFA over Gobin’s jurisdiction to hear the case.

FIFA will not have any defence, as it did in the High Court last week but football pundits are saying it will be precedence if the Appellate judges will overturn the ruling of the High Court.

Quan Chan said he lost confidence in the Wallace-led administration with the contracts of national coach Terry Fenwick, marketing representative Peter Miller, general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, the Avec Sports deal and the Lavender/Arima Velodrome initiative.

Meanwhile, Jamaal Shabazz, coach and owner of T&T Pro League outfit Morvant Caledonia United said for the country to have a future we must return to FIFA.

He believes that discussion has to be held on the propose addition to the agenda, noting that with the diverse views and antagonism among the fraternity for the future of the sport, there must find a pathway going forward.

"Though I may have differing views to Wallace and company, I am still willing to discuss with them a reason why T&T must return to the fold of FIFA," said Shabazz.

RELATED NEWS

Disillusionment
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express).


So let’s say come next Sunday’s emergency meeting the vote, as is expected, goes overwhelmingly against William Wallace and his executive.

Let’s say they resign en masse in response, then next Monday morning Robert Hadad gets an email from general secretary Fatma Samoura reinstating the normalisation committee, returning him as the interim head of the game here, welcoming the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as a member of the global football family once more, which means the money starts flowing again from Zurich.

And just to ensure such an excommunication never happens again, the members of the shameless, disgraceful organisation known as the PNM and the unelectably corrupt, arrogant institution that is the UNC come together to amend the relevant legislation so that in future, when it comes to football, we remain forever subservient to the will of FIFA but apparently more importantly, part of the global game.

After all that, what? Football in this country will be on a progressive track thereafter? And I suppose you believe in Santa Claus too, or that there is no police and soldier cover-up in the Drugs Sou Sou.

To be clear, if it were to transpire that — miracle of miracles — the Wallace executive gets a vote of confidence to continue the legal wrangle with FIFA, then it will just be a different version of the same bacchanal, because unauthorised alterations to contracts for coach Terry Fenwick and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, along with the re-floating of the ubiquitous marketing man Peter Miller, together with one or two other questionable deals mean Wallace on his own may struggle to survive this latest episode of turbulence in the nation’s most popular sport.

There is ample evidence across more than four decades (and no doubt even further back for those with the knowledge and memories to recall) to confirm that football governance here is an accurate reflection of the greed, corruption and, at best, misdirected priorities which define life in this twin-island republic.

So warped in our thinking are we that even historic experiences of unprecedented national unity and fervour under the umbrella of the beautiful game — from the 1989 “Road to Italy” campaign to the Germany 2006 experience to a full house at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in December 2014 supporting the women’s bid for World Cup glory — disintegrate into bitterness and acrimony in the obscene scramble for money and influence.

Sorry, it’s obscene for countries with a culture of transparency and accountability. Here, crabs in a barrel behaviour is normal, normal. Maybe it’s wrong to just give up, to believe that our experiences will forever be a recycling of the consequences of an absence of integrity with only dates and names changed. But where is the hope, or more precisely, what is the hope based on?

This disconcerting disconnection from reality extends across the region. Just last Tuesday I was involved in a discussion on West Indies cricket on commentator Andrew Mason’s radio show in his native Barbados, focussing on the squad to be selected and the team’s chances on the tour of New Zealand.

Just listening to the tenor of the dialogue you would think that the generally routine act of naming 15 players for the campaign was the start of a new era in the Caribbean game, as if picking so-and-so player or players will magically repair 25 years of struggle in Tests. One contributor even prefaced his opening statement by suggesting gone are the days when the West Indies went to New Zealand and regularly trounced their opponents 4-0 or 5-0, which is as disconnected from reality as you can get because that has never happened even once.

Look, I get that this all sounds very negative (and I am by nature a pessimist) but if someone can point to something real – something beyond “hoping” and “thinking positive” – upon which to base optimism then I would be happy to listen.

Maybe it’s a combination of advancing years and experiencing the same blimming thing over and over and over again, but impatience at seemingly perpetual outrage after outrage is intensifying. Outrage like racism, outrage like sanitising cheating, which have contributed to a decision to ease away from supporting Liverpool after 43 years and to make last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Everton as the final English Premier League game I will actually sit down to watch in its entirety.

Space is running out today but suffice it to say that, in the context of the greater awareness brought on by the “Black Lives Matter” movement, Liverpool Football Club’s history of racism when combined with contemporary and broader football issues like players faking injuries and fouls, and the intrusion of VAR technology, make Liverpool and the EPL only worthy of occasional interest now.

Sport should be about joy, not constant controversy.

« Last Edit: October 19, 2020, 12:42:12 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline ABTrini

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #730 on: October 19, 2020, 07:25:58 AM »
Disillusionment
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express).

So let’s say come next Sunday’s emergency meeting the vote, as is expected, goes overwhelmingly against William Wallace and his executive.

Let’s say they resign en masse in response, then next Monday morning Robert Hadad gets an email from general secretary Fatma Samoura reinstating the normalisation committee, returning him as the interim head of the game here, welcoming the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association as a member of the global football family once more, which means the money starts flowing again from Zurich.

And just to ensure such an excommunication never happens again, the members of the shameless, disgraceful organisation known as the PNM and the unelectably corrupt, arrogant institution that is the UNC come together to amend the relevant legislation so that in future, when it comes to football, we remain forever subservient to the will of FIFA but apparently more importantly, part of the global game.




Why do these idiotic journalist keep using sports to propagate their bias political agendas?  In our age of freedom of expression  it appears that we also have a freedom of stupidity.
While ones opinions are just that it seems highly insidious to categorize political entities as " shameless and disgraceful" based on what empirical data?
Should a journalist not keep to the facts and focus on the essential issues rather than speculate on hypothetical political involvement? Unless of course that the said writer of the articlle is submitting his opinions as a letter to the editor as opposed to a trained journalist?

Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #731 on: October 23, 2020, 01:37:04 AM »
Crowne suggests how TTFA could ‘normalise’ itself; as court of appeal enters fray.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


High court judge Carol Gobin has run her leg of the legal impasse between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and global governing body Fifa. Today, the court of appeal judges Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Nolan Bereaux took the baton.

“The TTFA originally did not have a problem with going to CAS—you were accepting that that was the proper framework that governed your arrangement,” the chief justice told TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne, at one point. “It is when Fifa refused to pay costs that you said ‘we feel we are unfairly treated and therefore Fifa has denied us access to arbitration’—which is what you wanted.

“So that question is relevant to whether or not the local court will assume jurisdiction [of this case]. What we are asking you is if that is no longer Fifa’s position [and the governing body pays its upfront fees and lifts the TTFA’s international suspension], does any objection remain to [returning to] CAS?”

The prospect added a new potential twist to the tumultuous relationship between the two parties. But it was not an altogether novel offer.

Fifa first attempted to entice the TTFA back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland on 6 July when it suggested mediation talks for the first and only time—an offer that was rescinded with hours due, according to a Fifa release, ‘to the failure of the lawyers of United TTFA to keep the matter confidential, in line with their professional and ethical obligations’.

(Crowne shared word of the offer with TV6 within hours of it being made.)

The TTFA’s legal team also comprises Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul. Fifa is represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.

The TTFA are in court because president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were removed by Fifa on 13 March and replaced by a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee. The global body eventually suspended the TTFA on 24 September for failure to withdraw the case within its deadline.

However, when the two parties appeared before Justice Gobin for the first time on 29 July, Hamel-Smith formally suggested that Fifa was willing to pay its upfront share of the arbitration fees at CAS—as a sweetener for the TTFA to return to the Swiss body.

And Crowne’s response then?

The TTFA attorney told the high court it ‘will be sending the TTFA back to an unfair forum’ if it ordered its return to CAS, and that forum non conveniens (the court’s discretion to decide which forum is better suited to hear a case) ought to determine that Trinidad is the right venue for the dispute.

“How is a body of non-Trinidad nationals the best forum to decide whether [Fifa’s] appointment of this normalisation committee in accordance with Trinidad law or not?” Crowne asked the high court, as he claimed that the TTFA Constitution was the first applicable rule book before one sought to determine whether Fifa was right to intervene.

Crowne’s response at the court of appeal today was quite different.

“That is a fair question, chief justice,” said Crowne. “If the suspension of the TTFA is withdrawn and the normalisation committee is reappointed, and Fifa said ‘we are going to pay our half of the arbitration share’; then I think our arguments fall away. And then the CAS remains the forum for the resolution of this dispute.”

It would not be the only example of a marked change in the tone of the legal proceedings, as Archie and Bereaux appeared more open to points that Gobin rejected outright.

For instance, Hamel-Smith claimed, via an affidavit from Swiss attorney Miguel Lietard Palacios, that the TTFA’s serving of court documents to Fifa by email was not permissible under Article (11) of the Swiss Federal Act, and therefore unlawful.

Gobin was fairly curt.

“The expert evidence contained in Mr Lietard’s affidavit is, in any case, inadmissible hearsay opinion evidence and I consider it to be insufficient to establish what the law is on service of process in Switzerland,” said Gobin. “The opinion is attributed to an attorney within Fifa’s litigation department who failed to file an affidavit.

“In the circumstances, I find no irregularity in the manner in which service was effected.”

Archie suggested that the manner of service does indeed matter and noted that: ‘service by email is substituted service; if it is personal service it cannot be by email’.

The chief justice pointed to the 2016 court of appeal case between Magistrate Marissa Gomez and Brent Nunes, in which the latter was found to have improperly served the appellant. Justices Allan Mendonça, Gregory Smith, and Prakash Moosai declared service of the claim form to be ‘an essential step in the proceedings’.

Crowne responded with a quote from the same case as well.

“It also says the second purpose [of service] is to enable the defendant to participate in the process,” said Crowne. “The philosophy behind service was not in any way impaired by our service by email.”

Crowne noted that Dr Claude Denbow SC gave notice of appearance for Fifa on 26 May and ‘in that notice, he said he received claim form and so on’.

“That in itself does not constitute waiver of improper service,” said Archie.

Crowne suggested again that by not filing an objection, Denbow had essentially waived the issue. (Although Denbow was replaced by Hamel-Smith before the matter got to the high court and the latter attorney made a case for improper service in his first pleading.)

Archie asked Crowne whether his entire defence rested on the fact Denbow did not immediately raise the issue of service when he filed a notice of appearance.

“It suggests waiver by him not making it,” said Crowne. “[…] The waiver was made by the initial counsel for Fifa in our respectful view.”

“The answer to that is either yes or no,” Archie retorted. “[…] You need to decide what your position is, and it would be helpful if you can back that up with some authority.”

Crowne noted that in the case cited by the chief justice, Nunes had not served Gomez at all. This matter, he said, was different.

“Without something more, it does operate as a waiver,” said Crowne.

“If you come across any authority on that,” said Archie, “please let us have it.”

Hamel-Smith, from the onset, appeared intent on making the most of the change of environment in his tussle with the TTFA.

“Our first position is […] CAS has the sole jurisdiction,” he said. “We say this respectfully—and this is a point that we think, with respect to the judge below, she didn’t understand. She thought we are saying that Fifa is outside the laws of Trinidad and Tobago; we are not saying any such thing.

“[…] Constitutionally, the TTFA voluntarily imposed upon itself an obligation, which is consistent with the Fifa statutes, that it would only pursue disputes of this nature before a particular forum which happens to be the CAS.

“[…] It doesn’t put itself above the law. It simply says that if a dispute arises between a member association and Fifa, then that dispute […] will be decided by the CAS.”

Well, Archie asked, in what circumstances would the local courts have jurisdiction in disputes between the TTFA and Fifa?

Hamel-Smith said that he would ‘get to that question’ in two steps. He never did address it, though. Instead, he pivoted back to his initial point and insisted that the TTFA imposed the contentious restriction upon itself.

“It is clear that parliament has given the TTFA the chance to make and amend its own rules and constitution,” said Hamel-Smith. “What they can’t do is simply ignore the terms of their own constitution and say they will do it anyway. They will have to first amend their constitution to remove that stipulation.”

There was no push-back from the chief justice.

“So before you accuse Fifa of breaking the rules, you ought to do it in a way that follows yours?” asked Archie.

“It goes further than that,” said Hamel-Smith. “We are saying you have the absolute right to hold Fifa to the law, but you do that in one of two ways: either by going to CAS; or you can change your own constitution.

“But what you cannot do is claim to be above or beyond your own constitution. I think that really is the knob of the debate on this most fundamental of points.”

Crowne countered that the Fifa’s statutes said member associations ‘shall insert a clause to give the CAS jurisdiction’ and there was nothing voluntary about it. As such, he interpreted it as an attempt by Fifa to ‘oust entirely the court’s jurisdiction’.

Gobin, famously, made much of the fact that the TTFA is incorporated by an Act of Parliament and was a de facto statutory body that could not or ought not to submit to the whims of a foreign entity. Gayle invited Archie and Bereaux an opportunity to follow suit.

“I don’t mean to cut across Dr Crowne,” said Gayle, as he sought to explain the difference between the TTFA’s two CAS appeals. “[…] Certainly the entirety of that external interference with an internal process of what is, by our submission, a statutory body must be subject to the courts of Trinidad and Tobago…”

The chief justice interrupted.

CJ: Before you go ahead, what is the significance of ‘incorporated by statute’? Because that does not by itself make a body a public body. And I know some discussion seems to have centred on that in the judgment.

What was the TTFA from 1964 to when it was incorporated by statute? What difference does the incorporation by statute make to the nature of the body and the business in which it was engaged? Was it subject to Fifa Statute between 1964 to 1982?

Gayle: I don’t have that [before me], and I don’t know that that’s a matter before your lordship…

CJ: I ask the question because there is a lot of harping on the fact that it was incorporated by statute; so were the girl guides and the boy scouts and several churches in Trinidad and Tobago. Remember this is a private member’s bill eh; this is not a governmental function. Please explain to us what significance ‘incorporation by statute’ has.

Gayle: It is twofold … The TTFA is a public body…

CJ (interrupts): No … The fact that you are incorporated by statute is not determinative of anything of the sort.

Gayle: […] Whether it is a statutory body or not may not be material … Section four and eight of the Act gives statutory footing to the TTFA constitution and sets out that there needs to be an election process [to change the executive]. We are saying you cannot overcome this statutory…

CJ: If the Act gives effect to the [TTFA] Constitution, then what does the Constitution say about whether Fifa can do what it did? If the parliament by an Act permits something, how can you say it is done it is contrary to public policy?

Gayle: It is the other way around; the Act gives life to the Constitution…

CJ: I don’t think you understand my question… If parliament passes an Act that says this is permissible and you may craft your constitution in line with ‘the Fifa system’, then if the constitution is crafted in line with the Fifa system, why are you saying that is contrary to public policy?

Gayle: The provision my lordship is referring to, section three of the Act; that is drafted in deliberately general terms… You can’t take an action that is contrary to the wording of the statutes.

CJ: Your submission is changing. First, you are saying it is contrary to public policy; now you are saying it is contrary to the Statutes. Which is it?

Gayle: My lord. Dr Crowne was making submissions under the public policy…

CJ: But you are on the same side.

Gayle admitted that the TTFA Constitution accepts the Fifa Statutes ‘carte blanche’ but dug his heels in that the only way it explicitly states an executive can be removed is via an election.

If the TTFA signed up for Fifa rule, seemed to be Archie’s question, then isn’t what comes with it the business of the local football body? Didn’t the 1982 Act of parliament suggest that the government of the day, led by Prime Minister George Chambers, was happy for Fifa and the TTFA to simply get on with their affairs?

Crowne suggested that the issue of arbitration was now a moot point in light of Fifa’s suspension of the TTFA and the closure of the normalisation committee. It drew incredulous responses from the Appeal judges. If the situation was rendered moot by that, they asked, then why did the high court grant a declaration?

Crowne suggested that Gobin’s verdict was on the rule of law in respect to what Fifa was allowed to do as a result of its statutes and the TTFA’s Constitution.

CJ: Did you ask for a declaration of the lawfulness of Fifa Statutes?

Crowne: No.

CJ: How did that get in the case then? At what point? Where did that come from?

Crowne: It arose because it was a question of if [the normalisation committee] could be appointed, based on what the TTFA Act said; and whether that committee can then usurp an elected body … That is how that issue came to play.

Archie said ‘alright’ but did not sound satisfied.

Bereaux: If we rule that the case should have gone to CAS and we throw everything out—including Justice Gobin’s judgment—what then?

Crowne replied that Fifa, by suspending the TTFA while its own appeal was pending, had frustrated the matter.

Bereaux: So this court shouldn’t act?

Crowne: Yes, the court should act to preserve its own processes.

The court of appeal judges did not seem altogether convinced.

Fifa did not escape scotch free though. Crowne said Fifa and CAS together ‘designed a scheme’ that priced the TTFA and other small associations from being able to afford justice. which was ‘unconscionable’.

Hamel-Smith admitted that the global body breached the arbitration policy by not paying its share of fees—even when asked to do so by CAS. However, he argued that it was ‘not sufficient to disenfranchise Fifa’.

Justice Bereaux charged that Fifa had not so gallantly left a cash-strapped member association with the ‘onerous burden’ of paying both their arbitration fees, having frozen its funding to boot.

Hamel-Smith noted that there was legal aid available. Justice Bereaux suggested that the TTFA did not want to hear about that because it felt CAS showed bias.

“This is the court that is supposed to be the arbiter of the dispute, that is not applying its rules properly,” said Justice Bereaux, who noted that CAS did not explicitly offer the option of funding to the TTFA. “You look at it and say ‘is this the court that I am forced to go to?’ Is [the TTFA] entitled to go to a tribunal that appears not to be fair and […] not to be is it bound to that same arbitration agreement?”

Hamel-Smith suggested that, if the TTFA was unhappy with the conduct of CAS, it ought to go the Swiss courts.

“Like every arbitration tribunal, [CAS] is controlled by the court at the seat of the tribunal,” he said. “[…] If you felt that there was going to be some bias, then your remedy is in relation to the seat of that arbitration tribunal.”

“Why not in Trinidad?” asked Justice Bereaux.

Hamel-Smith repeated the relevance of the Swiss Federal Court.

“So the short point is the Trinidad courts are excluded by that?” asked Justice Bereaux.

“The short point is once the TTFA has not amended its constitution,” said Hamel-Smith, “it has committed itself to CAS.”

Would the court of appeal rule that Fifa’s breach before CAS was sufficiently grievous to justify the TTFA’s approach to the high court? Or is the TTFA obliged to follow its own constitution, come what may?

The TTFA was given the option to return to CAS, once Fifa agreed to lift the suspension, and Crowne did not appear averse to it—although there is still the matter of finding 20,000 Swiss francs (TT$150,000) to do so.

And this is if the TTFA’s member delegates agree, in Sunday’s extraordinary general meeting, that such an exercise is a worthwhile use of time and money. (Thus far, Wallace has not used funds from the local football body.)

Walker noted a barrier to the suggested return to CAS on the matter of the normalisation committee

“There is an injunction that prevents us from reintroducing a normalisation committee,” said Walker.

“I see what you mean; it would also involve a concession on the part of the [TTFA],” said Archie. “Hence my concern that this trial went ahead before the appeal. But that is water under the bridge…”

Crowne offered a solution.

“In relation to what Mr Walker has said, I am mindful of a suggestion that perhaps is a way to resolve this impasse,” he said. “The Act speaks to an election of the general council and the normalisation committee might be at odds with that…

“If suspension was undone by Fifa and Fifa ‘renormalise’; could [the TTFA’s general body] vote to allow the normalisation committee then? […] Perhaps Fifa will lift the suspension and propose to normalise and we can take that issue on an expedited basis to CAS.”

The TTFA’s attorney was offering suggestions as to how the local body could effectively ‘normalise’ itself. The tide appeared to have turned.

“Well that is something for you and the other side to work out between yourselves,” said the chief justice, “but we are happy that the parties are prepared to work something out.”

Perhaps fittingly, Hamel-Smith helped himself to the closing words.

“My learned friend Dr Crowne uses this expression where he talks about an entirely foreign body, entirely under foreign law will decide and this cannot be consistent with public policy,” said Hamel-Smith. “I just want to emphasise this, my words, paranoia about it being a foreign body under foreign law is inappropriate. This is an arbitral process set up between parties who are located in different parts of the world; this is the nature of the organisation … Foreign law does not equal somehow being against public policy.

“And it wouldn’t be entirely under foreign law … Tribunals receive evidence of domestic law and apply domestic law in a wide variety of circumstances.

“[…] I also don’t see how this can be moot. There are binding declarations, some of which are broader than were even asked for… We are saying that if we are right, those declarations were instituted in proceedings that were not properly instituted in the first place. Those declarations must go.”

There was the suggestion by the Court of Appeal that Fifa had rigged its judicial system to deny its own member association of justice. It is a serious charge that questions the fairness of the controversial CAS clause. But after Gobin’s electric assertions, it felt like an anticlimax.

Even with the possibility that Fifa would open the door for the TTFA’s return to CAS, it is unlikely that Wallace and his team could afford to go through it—even at half-price.

At this stage, it is uncertain what scenario the TTFA’s 47 member delegates will have before them to discuss at their EGM this Sunday.

Editor’s Note: Below article is TTFA president William Wallace’s response to the offer to return to CAS - 20-Oct-2020).

‘That’s it!’ Wallace rules out return to CAS and says fight is over; criticises Fifa breach

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace said today that their legal fight with Fifa has reached to its end game, with the local football body set to reject an invitation to return to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Yesterday, TTFA attorney Dr Emir Crowne told Chief Justice Ivor Archie that his client would return to CAS if Fifa withdrew its international suspension and proposed normalisation once more. Wallace said he understood Crowne’s legal argument before the court of appeal, but he and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor and Sam Phillip believe the suggestion is a non-starter.

“Our attorney was put into that position based on the questions put to him by the judges,” Wallace told Wired868. “But for me—and this will be discussed with the lawyers—we have reached the point where we think we have done enough, and that’s it.

“Going back to CAS is not an option; even financially we have used up all the money.”

Wallace, his vice-presidents, and the TTFA Board of Directors were removed from their respective posts on 13 March, when the Bureau of the Fifa Council, headed by president Gianni Infantino, declared that it had appointed a normalisation committee in Trinidad and Tobago—due to the poor financial state of the local body.

The TTFA’s elected officers initially filed with CAS but made an acrimonious departure in May, after complaining of ‘inherent bias’. Since then, even Fifa attorney Christopher Hamel-Smith SC admitted that his client breached CAS’ rules by refusing to pay its fees upfront. It was an infraction that its fellow Swiss-based body facilitated.

Fifa’s refusal to follow the rules of the arbitral body led CAS to ask the cash-strapped TTFA to pay upfront fees for both parties, at a cost of 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$300,000).

The world governing body eventually offered to pay its share, if the TTFA returned to CAS, during high court proceedings. However, the local body rejected the proposal.

Crowne informed the court of appeal that they might be minded to have a rethink. However, Wallace said it was too late now.

“For Fifa to offer that now is an attempt to make themselves look good,” said Wallace. “We have had enough of this; this has gone on long enough. It is time to come to the end of what we have started.

“For Fifa not to follow the rules of its own process shows the kind of organisation it is. I will like to find the suitable word to describe them but it might not be suitable for print. (Laughs.)

“This is their process, you started it, and yet you refused to abide by the rules. We would not have gone to the high court if they [paid their share] from the start. This thing might have been over a long ago.”

On 13 October, Madame Justice Carol Gobin ruled in the high court that Fifa’s normalisation committee was invalid and its removal of Wallace was done in ‘bad faith’.

“On the evidence, I find that the decision to activate the normalisation was improper and made in bad faith,” stated Gobin. “The conclusion that it was a contrivance to subvert the outcome of the November 24th elections is in my view inescapable. In the end it defeated the will of the persons who had elected the new board into office.

“In the circumstances Fifa’s claim that it remains neutral in matters of politics (within the sport) is demonstrated to be patently false.”

Gobin’s decision could potentially be voided on Friday evening, if court of appeal judges Archie and Nolan Bereaux rule that Trinidad and Tobago did not have jurisdiction to hear the case in the first place. However, Wallace said he will continue to be comforted by the decision of the high court—no matter what Archie and Bereaux say.

The retired Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal said all he ever wanted was the chance to be heard on the perceived wrong done to him. He feels Gobin gave him that opportunity when it appeared to be too expensive or onerous to get it elsewhere.

“Whatever happens after the high court is an anticlimax,” said Wallace. “Fate happened to decide that the matter was heard before it went to the appeal court, and that was enough for me. I always wanted a chance to be heard and fate had it that I was heard at the high court, and I am happy with that.

“I think what we set out to achieve was achieved. Basically, we are at a point where we don’t expect much more than where we have gotten to.”

Wallace remains committed to chairing the TTFA’s extraordinary general meeting on Sunday, however he did not offer any clues on his future within the local game beyond that.

Apart from his own vindication by the high court, Wallace hopes Fifa’s 211 member associations pay attention to the governing body’s conduct in this affair: from its sketchy reasoning for normalisation and the open-ended justification of ‘exceptional circumstances’ that Infantino used to attack the TTFA, straight to its refusal to follow CAS rules and decision to suspend the twin island republic while Fifa’s own appeal was in the court.

“It is unfortunate that an international organisation that espouses these lofty ideals of fair play would treat with its nations in this way and not cooperate with a process that it directs all members to sign up to,” said Wallace. “It showed up Fifa clearly; and it shows that if they want to frustrate a member that they can do that at any point in time. I hope our actions will have helped such things to come to the fore and international bodies can zone in on that. If so, our actions would not have been in vain.

“[…] I don’t think that the football fraternity should continue to accept those things. I think this is [something] for the membership to look at in terms of the Fifa processes going forward.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #732 on: October 23, 2020, 04:46:54 AM »
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Offline Anbrat

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #733 on: October 23, 2020, 06:54:41 AM »
Fifa, “Guilty As Charged.” This MUST be the turning point for Fifa and CAS.
arsenalfcnews.co.uk


As reported by Josimar, the judge said Fifa had made “a mockery of the proceedings” and that the installation of a “normalisation” group to take over football in Trinidad and Tobago was unreasonable.

The argument was that Fifa had allowed what one might call erratic financial mismanagement to continue under its watch, and Fifa audits did nothing to sort out the issue.  Thus the claim that Fifa helped TTFA gets its accounts in order and hold new elections was less than credible.

In short the judge concluded, that the “normalisation order” was “a contrivance to subvert the outcome of the [TTFA] November 24th elections… Fifa’s claim that it remains neutral in matters of politics (within the sport) is demonstrated to be patently false”.

The Trinidad and Tobago FA admitted that it had not proceeded properly but was putting its house in order.  Fifa, they argued, was punishing the association because as part of its take over of the association Fifa had put in power David John-Williams, whom Josimar calls “a key ally of Gianni Infantino in the region”.

But the judge was not finished for as Josimar continues, “Throughout the proceedings Fifa has… demonstrated a disregard for the rule of law”.

Now Fifa find itself in a bind.  Fifa regards the courts of its individual members to be below itself – it is the Supreme Ruler of All Matters Football.  As such it would not dirty its hands by defending itself in a trial in Trinidad and Tobago, because Fifa, as the supreme entity, is not subject to the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.

Certainly the FA of Trinidad and Tobago have shown far more strength of character than the English FA which has endlessly bowed down in craven tribute to Fifa – even when it became aware that the last world cup for which the FA bid (using as we alone have noted many time, taxpayers money), was fixed.

(There is also the issue of the next world cup being held in stadia built by slave labour, and our hope that “Black Lives Matter” might take up that issue, but that movement seems curiously silent on the subject, so we’ll leave that for a moment).

Supported by newspaper journalists whose prime interest is getting tickets so they can go and watch football matches for free and stay in splendid hotels at sponsors’ expense, no criticism of Fifa will ever reach the eyes and ears of those interested in the sport in England.

But now they might have to, because as Josimar is pointing out, “TTFA v. FIFA” is being seen as a test case.  And it is happening just as Fifa itself is on trial in Switzerland.

The question has always been, is it reasonable for a self-appointed sports body to be above the laws of the land of the country in which it holds court?

For if Fifa is the first and last arbiter of all decisions, all the associations within Fifa bow down to its rules.  This is what we see in England, and because the FA is funded by the state, we, the taxpayers, end up keeping this autocratic dictatorship in power and can’t stop the FA handing over vast amounts of our money to Fifa.

Now as Josimar points out, it has been shown in a high court that even Fifa’s dictatorship has a limit to its powers – it cannot override primary legislation in the country of one of its members.  Thus finally it is established that (in the case of England) the FA is subject to the laws of England primarily, not to the laws of Fifa.  That should always have been obvious (given that the FA is funded by grants from government, which itself is funded by the taxpayer).  Now it has been set out.

The FA has been shown to be subject to British law – as when the Charity Commissioners slaughtered it over the FA’s abject failure to keep proper records of the money it claimed it was giving away as a result of the “Charity Shield”.  It’s response was simply to avoid the issue by renaming the competition to “Community Shield”.  Repeated requests from Untold Arsenal to the FA asking for detail of where the money from that competition went to, remained unanswered.

Fifa was shown to be subject to Swiss law in 2015 (you might recall our article from 22 January of that year to which I have alluded in the past: Switzerland take a greater interest in Fifa – at last)

As we reported there was at that point a “change to the law in Switzerland, which allows the authorities to scrutinise bank accounts held by sporting governing bodies and their leaders.”  What I got wrong was that I predicted that Fifa would follow the IOC which had immediately moved its 2017 vote on Olympic venues to Peru.  Fifa thought it was above everything, carried on in Switzerland, and the arrests followed.

But what now?  Fifa clearly can claim that all disputes go through Fifa.  But it’s leader is being charged with corruption in a Swiss court.  And as Trinidad and Tobago has shown, if the FA of a country is instituted within the law of that country, then that football association is subject to the law of country, NOT the law of Fifa.  Meanwhile the cases in Switzerland are showing that Fifa officials are subject to the law of Switzerland, not the law of Fifa.

But now here’s a wonderful thought which Josimar has come up with.  If this is the case then the Court of Arbitration for Sport is “not the only legitimate recourse for a member of Fifa which was involved in a dispute with the governing body.”  Nor indeed for members of Uefa.  Something which might interest Manchester City.

Because again as Josimar says, “To say otherwise would be to accept that Fifa could overrule an Act of Parliament; and to accept that would be to surrender national sovereignty.”  Because that course of action means that Fifa is a law unto itself, and the Swiss courts are currently very busy showing that this is not the case, and will not be allowed to be the case.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the turning point.

Chaos in Europe, silence in England

« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 07:21:44 AM by Flex »

Offline Tallman

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Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
« Reply #734 on: October 30, 2020, 04:17:18 PM »
Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)


Anton Corneal, a former T&T Football Association Technical Director and Anthony Sherwood, a former national midfielder now turn coach, are set to join the sport's world governing body FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, a Board member of the T&TFA has revealed on Friday.

The two are expected to be the ones with sporting knowledge on a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies and former banker Nigel Romano and attorney Judy Daniel, who is the deputy chairman of the committee.

When contacted Corneal told Guardian Media Sports that he was unaware of this, but noted, if the FIFA or the normalisation committee believe he can be of any assistance, then he will be willing to serve.

When FIFA announced the names of the people on the normalisation committee on March 27, it said two others members were to be appointed jointly by the FIFA and the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). However, the appointments appeared to have been delayed by the legal wranglings between FIFA and the T&TFA, over the legitimacy of the normalisation committee appointment on March 11, and whether the matter could have been settled in the local courts in T&T, or the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, where all FIFA disputes are settled.

FIFA in a release on March 11 said: "The Bureau of the FIFA Council has today decided to appoint a normalisation committee for the T&T Football Association (TTFA) in accordance with Art. 8 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes.

The decision follows the recent FIFA/Concacaf fact-finding mission to Trinidad and Tobago to assess, together with an independent auditor, the financial situation of TTFA. The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently."

The mandate of the normalisation committee is: To run the TTFA'S daily affairs; To establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress, and To organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

Corneal, who was forced to take legal action against the TTFA for wages owed to him, could be a perfect fit for the appointment, another TTFA Board member believes, as he has worked with the FIFA for the past five years helping countries design their technical departments, with coaches' education and with their long-term development.

The Board member said Corneal, who works with the FIFA as a consultant, may easily be hired on the normalisation committee, instead of having him work as a consultant and still appoint him on the normalisation committee also.

Sherwood yesterday could not be reached as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

Guardian Media Sports was told also that FIFA has been in search of two former players to be put into the positions.

In addition to Corneal and Sherwood, other names such as Densill Theobald, a former national midfielder who represented the country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and Bertille St Clair, an ex-national football coach, who has been battling with health issues, were also being considered, the board member said.

Guardian Media Sports also sought to contact Hadad for a comment, but calls to his phone went unanswered.
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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #735 on: October 31, 2020, 05:48:49 AM »
Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)


Anton Corneal, a former T&T Football Association Technical Director and Anthony Sherwood, a former national midfielder now turn coach, are set to join the sport's world governing body FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, a Board member of the T&TFA has revealed on Friday.

The two are expected to be the ones with sporting knowledge on a committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies and former banker Nigel Romano and attorney Judy Daniel, who is the deputy chairman of the committee.

When contacted Corneal told Guardian Media Sports that he was unaware of this, but noted, if the FIFA or the normalisation committee believe he can be of any assistance, then he will be willing to serve.
...

Unaware, huh?  :)

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #736 on: October 31, 2020, 08:49:34 AM »
All I got to say is, Be careful what you wish (fight) for you might get it!
Now we will see what it is like to fight for injustice and prefer your oppressor because hes too big & has the money.
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Re: Corneal, Sherwood set for FIFA's NC appointment
« Reply #737 on: October 31, 2020, 09:23:28 AM »
The Normalization Committee need not have technically-capacitated members.

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #738 on: December 22, 2020, 01:39:55 PM »
50% pay for football coaches before Xmas
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).


THE normalisation committee is now offering to pay national football coaches 50 per cent of what they are owed, going against what was agreed upon according to one former national youth coach.

Approximately 40 T&T coaches have not been paid since the normalisation committee was formed by FIFA to run local football in March.

The normalisation committee is led by local businessman Robert Hadad.

National senior men’s coach Terry Fenwick is one of the coaches affected by the delay of the salary disbursement. Wayne Sheppard, Angus Eve, Clayton Morris and Richard Hood are some of the other coaches who are owed outstanding salaries.

The coaches owed include head coaches, assistant coaches, managers, goalkeeper coaches and physiotherapists in national senior and junior teams.

Sheppard, Eve, Hood, Morris and Jefferson George are also part of the Coaches Steering Committee.

Sheppard said the normalisation committee recently told the coaches that they won’t be paid the full amount.

“The payment as agreed by Mr Hadad was for 50 per cent to be paid up front and the remaining 50 per cent for us to receive a letter of comfort stating that that payment would be honoured at a later date.”

The coaches, however, understood that they would receive all the money owed to them in one payment and not a percentage of that.

“We did not agree to anything else,” Sheppard said.

Sheppard said the coaches are hopeful that they would receive a Christmas gift in their bank accounts.

“As far as discussions with the normalisation committee, we were updated that the monies are in fact in the country and they are working feverishly to see if they could pay it today (Monday), worst case before Christmas. That is the situation as it goes right now…so we waiting to see if that really comes to fruition.”

Sheppard is the former assistant coach of the T&T Under-15 boys team. Sheppard added, “As I have said from the beginning, I have no doubt that we will be paid, (it) is just a matter of when it will happen.”

The coaches are owed money for various times. For example, the Under-15 and Under-17 boys coaches are owed money for the period February 2020 to August 2020. The coaches have been at loggerheads with the normalisation committee for months.

On August 25, more than 20 national coaches claimed they were barred from delivering a document concerning outstanding salaries at the TT Football Association (TTFA) head office at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

Eve told Newsday most of the coaches were not allowed to enter the compound, except for a few coaches who arrived early.

Two days later, the normalisation committee said it was not intentionally delaying payments to coaches and also said that the Ato Boldon Stadium was closed to prevent the spread of covid19. The compound includes the Home of Football, which at the time was being used as a step down facility to fight the virus.

At a media conference, on September 4, at Fatima Grounds, in Mucurapo, days after meeting with the normalisation committee, the coaches said the discussions concerning the salaries were cordial.

Representing the coaches at the media conference were Sheppard, Eve, Morris and Hood.

Newsday attempted to contact Hadad, but was unsuccessful.

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #739 on: February 23, 2021, 01:56:36 PM »
The Hadad era: has normalisation committee become a threat to T&T football?
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


“America won’t have [Christian] Pulisic, so it will be an easy game,” Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) acting general secretary Amiel Mohammed supposedly told a football insider, as he bragged about the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee’s coup in securing a friendly match against Concacaf giants, the United States.

Mohammed could not be reached for comment, and neither confirmed nor denied the anecdote. His aloofness is totally in sync with his current employer.

Eleven months have passed since the Bureau of the Fifa Council named Robert Hadad, Judy Daniel and Nigel Romano as its normalisation committee members on the twin island republic. And it is more than four months since the TTFA membership ceded power to the trio.

In that time, Hadad, the chairman, not only failed to hold a single national press conference to share his vision for the role, but he is yet to conduct a solitary general meeting to consult with football stakeholders.

Arrogance and an inflated sense of self-worth are not unusual traits in leaders, particularly within the TTFA. They are not irredeemable character flaws. However, a lack of accountability and the refusal to adhere to guidelines for improved decision-making are traits that lead to ruin.

Trinidad and Tobago’s 7-0 loss to the United States, a joint-national record and one goal shy of USA’s all-time landmark triumph over Barbados, will forever be a stain on the record of current Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick.

But, as knowledgeable sport people know, the on-field result is a reflection of the preparation—and that goes as much for the guidance and organisation of Hadad’s committee as it does Fenwick’s antics.

Whether there is much football know-how between Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Mohammed is open to debate.

But more concerning is that the quartet appear to have manipulated the functioning of the local football body so that they, like former president David John-Williams, always feel they are—to paraphrase ex-Soca Warriors head coach Stephen Hart—the smartest people in the room.

“The [normalisation committee] wouldn’t have the expertise to deal with a technical report from Terry Fenwick—certainly not,” said Downer. “Even if the board was in existence, the majority of the people on the board, excluding [former Concacaf technical committee member Keith] Look Loy, would not have had the expertise to dissect it…”

One can substitute the ‘technical’ committee with finance, legal, sports medicine, marketing, and so on. Fifa mandates active standing committees in its own statutes and insists all member associations do the same, so as to compensate for an anticipated lack of specialised knowledge and to ensure that there is a variety of strong opinions on every subject.

Article 20 in the TTFA Constitution states standing and ad-hoc committees ‘shall advise and assist the board of directors in fulfilling its duties’.

“The word shall means you must have them,” said Osmond Downer, one of the framers of the local football constitution. “How can you have shall when they are not there?

“[…] It is in the constitution because they are necessary bodies, according to article 20. It is not a matter of choosing not to have them. It is a matter of you must have them—must!”

During the ‘DJW’ era, a period in which the Men’s National Senior Team slid from 49th to 104th in the Fifa rankings, the TTFA never had more than three functioning standing committees at any given time from a minimum of 15.

It meant once John-Williams controlled the board, he could run football without hearing any voice of wisdom but his own.

World Cup 2006 stand-out Shaka Hislop, one of the framers of the TTFA constitution, was among a half dozen qualified persons to weigh in on the implications of John-Williams’ negligence.

“The thinking behind the multiple committees, in my view, was to provide a comprehensive oversight and input into all the necessary functions and programs of a properly run FA,” Hislop told Wired868, “with overarching responsibility for programs ranging from youth to senior levels, grassroots and developmental through to elite; for both women and men.

“The fact that so many of these committees are inactive suggests a unilateral approach to our football governance. [And the concern about such a governance style] was one of the main drivers behind the then TTFA administration calling for constitutional reform in the first place.”

Between December 2019 and January 2020, the William Wallace-led administration appointed members to eight standing committees. However, Fifa’s intervention last March and the ensuing chaos saw all but the referees committee grind to a halt.

And Hadad seems to be returning the TTFA to DJW’s autocratic style.

On 18 January 2021, the normalisation committee chairman—almost a year after his initial appointment—confirmed what everyone suspected by then. He did not believe the rules should apply to him.

“We wish to inform you that the standing committees are presently non-operational,” stated Hadad, via a press statement. “We are mindful of the role and contribution of the committees to the running of the organisation but prior to re-establishing them, we intend to assess the functions and composition of these committees for their adequacy and effectiveness.

“This is a necessary part of the normalisation process and in keeping with Fifa directives.”

The TTFA’s standing committees, in accordance with the constitution, hold four year terms and Fifa’s directive last March—despite Hadad’s release—did not extend to them. If there has been a change in the normalisation committee’s scope, the normalisation committee did not prove it.

In a possible bid to stave off criticism of technical decisions, Hadad appears to now use technical director Dion La Foucade, directors of football Richard Piper and Jinelle James, and club licensing and compliance director Norris Ferguson, as an advisory panel of sorts.

Not only do none of that quartet have top level coaching experience but all four are TTFA employees. Even John-Williams was forced to accept, on the urging of the membership, that employees cannot simultaneously hold advisory positions, due to the potential conflict of interests.

He was appointed on a one-year contract in January 2020.
It was a realisation that forced Wayne Cunningham and Sharon O’ Brien to choose between board positions and their day jobs.

Piper, James and Ferguson were adjunct members of the technical committee under the previous administration and, as such, could not vote on any matters.

Is Hadad’s ignorance of that fact genuine or wilful?

In any case, the businessman would have been brought up to speed within minutes of floating such an idea at a general meeting. Only he continually refuses to call one—unwilling to risk not being the smartest man in the room and being obliged to listen to someone else.

Perhaps sensing a knowledge gap, the normalisation committee, according to an advisor, was asked to utilise Fifa licensed coaching instructor and former technical director, Anton Corneal, who was involved in three successful World Cup campaigns.

But it did not go well.

“Hadad approached me and said they would like me to be part and parcel of the restructuring of the game but nothing has materialised for whatever reason,” said Corneal, in December 2020. “[…] Even that is mind boggling; but then if I don’t understand the magnitude of the game, I might think the same way [as him]. I don’t think they understand how [local football] has been affected this year.

“In a way, we are fortunate that the world is on a lockdown so there is no better time to restructure and really think about the long term development of our football. But again that has not happened.

“I am not accustomed to working in a situation where the product of football is being placed on the back burner. We will reap what we sow.

“Whether you are talking about youth football, zone football, elite football, national youth teams, football is on the back burner. If not, it must be a best-kept secret.”

Hadad’s tantrums at the slightest hint of negative feedback are well known within football now. Suffice it to say, Corneal received the cold shoulder since.

In sport, the scoreboard never lies; and the result in Orlando told its own tale.

In recent months, the football community watched aghast as Fenwick surrounded himself with friendly support staff, with no records of achievement within the game—most glaringly, his trainer Cassius Humphrey—and made a spectacle of cross-town jogs to Adam’s Bagels and uneven contests with young makeshift opponents.

Fenwick’s excuse about his job being undermined by a lack of development within the local game is especially curious when, in over a decade as an academy coach, the only player his Football Factory ever nurtured from scratch straight into a national programme is Gary Griffith III. At best, the teenager, selected ahead of two-time World Youth Cup player Marcus ‘Lobo’ Joseph for the Orlando trip, is yet to prove his worth.

It would be naive to view the America thrashing as a one-off.

What to make of the fact that team manager Adrian Romain—appointed by Fenwick rather than the previous technical committee—did not understand the quarantine procedure when the Warriors returned home?

The error cost the team two weeks’ training and preparation time.

Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines have been trying to arrange practice games against the Warriors for the past two months. The normalisation committee seems to have no idea how to put it together.

Up next is arguably the most complicated World Cup qualifying campaign of all time, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging across the region at present.

It requires meticulous planning and sound, swift decision-making to calm the foreign employers of national players and provide something resembling an agenda, which Fenwick and his staff can use to prepare.

The football associations of Dominica and Barbados already know exactly what they will do. They share Group D with Panama, Dominican Republic and Anguilla; and the Dominican Republic does not have a mandatory quarantine for travellers who test negative for the virus.

So, all five Group D nations agreed to host their two March qualifying games in Santo Domingo. And, if the regional protocols do not change, they will repeat the trick in April. 

As foreign clubs are empowered by Fifa to withhold players from international duty if more than four days quarantine is involved, those countries can all negotiate now with a degree of assuredness.

Meanwhile, Hadad and his satellites are begging Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to save them. Maybe this is the extent of business ‘acumen’ in Trinidad and Tobago—lobbying for government bailouts.

Like Santo Domingo, Bahamas does not have a mandatory quarantine period for incoming travellers. Do Hadad and his normalisation committee know that? Have they checked?

That is the problem in believing that you’re the smartest person in the room and then, just to make sure, keeping the room as empty as possible.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s concerns in the twin island republic appeared to have ended the minute that the local football body vowed not to investigate the controversial Home of Football project. And, like under John-Williams, the TTFA’s leadership can seemingly do whatever the hell it likes now.

Welcome to the Hadad era. Buckle up.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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THIS GUARDIAN UK PODCAST ADDRESSES THE TTFA vs FIFA IMPASSE!
« Reply #740 on: February 24, 2021, 04:49:50 PM »
Have a listen folks.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2021/feb/24/has-fifa-really-changed-football-weekly-special-part-two

THIS GUARDIAN PODCAST ADDRESSES THE TTFA vs FIFA IMPASSE!

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #741 on: March 05, 2021, 08:06:08 PM »
Griffith: No support for team by Normalisation Committee.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


In an effort to show the public that Guardian Media Sports report on Friday had no merit or foundation, national coach Terry Fenwick and Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith organised a team bonding event with the players and technical staff members at the Commissioner's residence at the St James Police Barracks after a training session which took place also at Police Grounds on the same compound on Friday and invited the media.

During the event when asked by the media about the media report, Alvin Jones and Duane Muckette say they are solely focused on the Guyana World Cup qualifier on March 25th.

Nevertheless, Muckette, who has made two appearances for the country expressed confidence in T&T football coach Terry Fenwick. He said, “I think that Terry will do his homework and we will come with a plan in ways that we can exploit them. However, so far it’s been focusing on us and focusing on how we want to play and how we want to capitalize on our strength rather than focusing on them just yet.”

Jones said, “I think that Guyana is one of the strongest teams in the group. We will be going for the win and if we can get the three points, it will be good for us.”

Also, the team's advertised travel to Tobago this weekend for a practice match has been cancelled for various reasons. There have been conflicting reports as to why the team didn’t make the trip in the end.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Griffith has sought to clear the air on the report about issues raised in the T&T senior men's football team camp, between players and coach Terry Fenwick, ahead of the country's opening World Cup qualifying match with Guyana on March 25 in the Dominican Republic.

Griffith whose involvement in the team entailed doing security work to handling conflict resolution under a succession of football administrations over the past years, said the finger of guilt should be pointed to the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, being headed by businessman Robert Hadad, as he described the T&T squad now as being more unified than ever in their World Cup campaign.

Griffith also called a press conference yesterday afternoon, in an effort to address the matter further and to show that the teams' technical staff and players are a unified bunch.

Guardian Media Sports, with the help of a circulating recording on Thursday, exclusively reported rising concerns by a number of the team's players which have been posing a major threat to the campaign by revealing who are the players that raised the concerns.

These concerns include; dissatisfaction with the method of preparation by Fenwick, routine sessions, the sidelining of assistant coach Derek King to the types of warm-up matches being taken while more competitive T&T Pro League teams can be sought, among others.

National coach Fenwick stayed silent on the issue and did not respond to questions sent to him via Whatsapp by us on the issues, Griffith questioned the authenticity of the report and bashed the players for what he said was a display of unprofessionalism.

"Difference in opinions and conflicts would always take place in sport, but in all my years in Sports Administration, even being a past Sport Vice President, Secretary, and Manager of National teams, have I ever seen such sabotage, indiscipline, and ignorance by some inside and outside of a National team, as I have seen by a few responsible for the administration of this present National Senior Football team," he said.

He noted: "The recent article by Walter Alibey in the Guardian reeks of a deliberate attempt by some to undermine the World Cup preparation by deliberately causing division and disunity. To begin with, I strongly question the authenticity of this report, as I have been closely involved in the National teams for several years, inclusive of this one, and this present team is as closely knit as one can get, so the usual song and dance that some reporters would throw about having" an anonymous source" but bringing no names, no quotes and no facts is as shallow as one can get."

He added: "What this has done, however, is cause severe concerns by many players and technical staff as they are wondering who is the Trojan Horse that would be so irresponsible to air dirty linen of a national squad in training, as this does nothing other than to cause a breakdown in morale, teamwork and trust amongst players. Or was this the intention?"

Griffith, whose son is also battling for a place on the team, turned his focus to the normalisation committee and accused its members of blocking all attempts by Fenwick to properly prepare the team.

His accusations ranged from the efforts made by Fenwick for a tri-nation warm-up bubble with Dominican and St Vincent and the Grenadines in December last year to the World Cup bubble with Guyana at the end of the month, to the Tobago warm-up matches this weekend, all of which did not get the support of the normalisation committee.

Griffith revealed also that players were also blanked stipends from the normalisation committee.

The former hockey player said: "The objective of his letter to the media was to offer constructive criticism on the issue."

Contacted yesterday, Hadad did not respond to the accusations made, saying only that the matter will be addressed and a release will be sent to the media.

Griffith said if the report was done to break the confidence and morale in the team, then it has failed miserably, noting that it has instead strengthened the bond and determination needed for the team to succeed.

He later tried to justify why he felt the report had loopholes, saying: " No National player worth their salt would do this because there is absolutely no gain to rectify the situation by running to the media like a spoilt brat to complain. The only value of doing this was to deliberately cause division and confusion, and if such individuals do exist in a National team to cause such negativity and bad publicity, then they should not even be on a fete match squad;

In fact, the senior players of the team, both at home and abroad are livid as to the petty and immature behaviour of a few who may have done this, if any did in the first place, as this is still to be confirmed.

The accusation made about Assistant Coach Derek King, being sidelined and bypassed also lacks merit, as I have spoken to Mr King who likewise is very upset that his name has been mentioned in this clandestine plot to affect the team's preparation, as he has stated that he never spoke to any player and has never seen himself being sidelined in any form or fashion."

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #742 on: March 26, 2021, 11:39:05 AM »
Gomez appointed to T&T's Normalisation Committee.
TTFA Media.


FIFA has advised that Mr. Trevor Nicholas Gomez has been appointed as the newest member of the Normalisation Committee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.

Mr. Gomez joins the other three previously appointed members of the Normalisation Committee – Mr. Robert Hadad (Chairperson), Ms. Judy Daniel (Deputy Chairperson) and Mr. Nigel Romano (Member).

Mr. Gomez is a Chartered Accountant and the Executive Chairman of Gravitas Business Solutions. Throughout his distinguished career, the former Trinidad and Tobago National Cricketer also served as Assurance Leader of EY Caribbean and Country Managing Partner of EY, Trinidad.

In correspondence to Chairperson Hadad, FIFA Secretary General Ms. Fatma Samoura stated that Mr. Gomez would commence duties on March 15th, 2021.

“The new member shall assume his duties as from 15 March 2021 and will have to pass an eligibility check to be carried out by the FIFA Review Committee in accordance with the FIFA Governance Regulations,” Samoura stated.

“All other terms of the mandate of the Normalisation Committee as decided by the Bureau of the FIFA Council as well as the other members of the Normalisation Committee appointed on 26 March 2020 shall remain the same,” the correspondence continued.

The mandate of the Normalisation Committee will include the following:

• to run the TTFA'S daily affairs;

• to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;

• to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;

• to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

The Normalisation Committee will act as an electoral committee, and none of its members will be eligible for any of the open positions in the TTFA elections under any circumstances.

The timing of Mr Gomez's public announcement was done to facilitate the finalization of additional technical formalities and paperwork.

Chairman of the Normalisation Committee Robert Hadad welcomes the addition of Mr. Gomez and looks forward to working with him to fulfill the mandate in the interest of Trinidad and Tobago football.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: FIFA appoints normalisation committee for Trinidad and Tobago football
« Reply #743 on: April 21, 2021, 10:58:19 AM »
WATCH: Progress report on the Normalization Committee

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/biALUHNnJ18" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/biALUHNnJ18</a>
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Normalisation comm asks for trust, vows to improve communication; after TTFA members write Fifa.
Wired868.com.


The Robert Hadad-led normalisation committee has promised to ‘improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership’, after representatives that comprise half of the local football body complained to Fifa about Hadad’s stewardship.

The 14-page letter from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) members, written by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards and signed by seven other member delegates, accused Hadad of gross mismanagement and creating ‘a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.

The letter was sent to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura as well as Hadad and normalisation committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel L Romano, and Trevor Nicholas Gomez. It was also published in Wired868.

The normalisation committee, in a break from the norm, responded via a prompt press statement which vowed to address the issues raised ‘directly this week’ and suggested that ‘Fifa and Concacaf continue to guide this process’.

The press statement also claimed that some of the statements made by members were ‘inaccurate and based on assumptions’. The letter to Fifa spoke in detail about the contract given to Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick as well as the Englishman’s behaviour at the post.

Fenwick’s contract was approved by former TTFA president William Wallace and not Hadad. However, Hadad was criticised for not challenging controversial terms in the deal or holding the Soca Warriors coach accountable for his actions.

Notably, Edwards’ letter went much further as he said Hadad, the co-CEO of the Hadad Group, is mismanaging the TTFA and made special mention of his failure to appoint standing committees—including those meant to oversee his financial stewardship—or account for his management to the membership.

The normalisation committee did not directly address the accusations. It did complain, though, that the publication of the letter was ‘unfortunate’.

“It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space,” stated the normalisation committee. “Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.”

Ironically, Hadad, in particular, has been described as dishonest in his leadership of local football by Wired868, anonymous national football players, and Jefferson George, president of the National Football Coaches of Trinidad and Tobago (NFCTT).

(Full response from the normalisation committee)

The normalisation committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has received a letter from TTFA Members on 1 May 2021. We understand the concerns of the TTFA Members and will be addressing those issues with the membership directly this week.

The normalisation process was fully allowed to function as of November 2020 and the process for any Member Association is difficult and challenging. Fifa and Concacaf continue to guide this process as we work towards resurrecting football out of its doldrums, which has been made more complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties.

It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space. Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.

‘Clearly unacceptable!’ Full TTFA letter condemning Robert Hadad and the Fifa-appointed NC.
Wired868.com.


“[…] You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself? This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions.

“It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an Audit and Compliance Committee […] as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.

“Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud…”

The following letter on the supposedly appalling stewardship of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association by the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, headed by Robert Hadad, was sent today by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura today as well as to Hadad and other committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez:

(The letter was signed by acting Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Northern FA president Ross Russell, Central FA president Shymdeo Gosine, Southern FA president Richard Quan Chan, Eastern Counties FU vice-president Ian Pritchard, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales, and Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer.)

Concerns of the TTFA Membership:

With reference to the above captioned subject, we the undersigned members of the TTFA wish to draw to your attention our concerns in relation to your performance in your management of the  Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

You were appointed on the 27 March 2020 and you were mandated by Fifa to execute the following during a two year term:

1. Establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA;

2. Review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress;

3. Run the TTFA’s daily affairs;

4. Organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.

(Debt Repayment Plan)

To date, either there has been no cohesive and structured debt repayment plan presented to the members of the TTFA or the members have not been made aware of such plan by the normalisation committee to liquidate the outstanding debts to coaches, players, technical staff, TTFA administrative staff and other creditors.

Rather, there seems to be a greater concern with setting up a ‘Unified League’ than developing and presenting a well-organised and practical debt repayment strategy as mandated.

In fact, according to a media release dated 18 March, 2021, you stated that:

‘The current group of coaches have been paid completely, up until August of last year. All of the payments have been in. As soon as that comes through, we would then be paying the last four months of last year, I would say in the next month-and-a-half, then we’re only left with this year.’

It was further mentioned that ‘all of the other coaches, apart from the men’s team, have been brought up to date. The admin staff and the technical staff have been brought up to date. It’s just the men’s team that have to be brought up to date, and that is going to be done in the next couple of months.’

However, coaches have come forward to refute that claim stating that monies owed to them are still outstanding.

As such, we the undersigned request that you notify us of the dept repayment plan that has been implemented by the normalisation committee and as mandated by Fifa.

This is also critical, since this was the primary reason behind Fifa removing the duly elected administration and installing yourself as chairman of the normalisation committee and yet you too have been unable to present a practical and workable financially prudent debt re-payment plan.

(Increasing debt and poor financial management)

Since your appointment on the 27th of March 2020, there seems to be an increase in expenditure for the TTFA. In fact, Mr Adrian Romain was hired as manager of the Senior Men’s Team however, Mr Basil Thompson was already employed as the team’s manager.

As such, Mr Thompson now holds the position of logistics manager, a post nonexistent in our constitution. This is clearly an unnecessary expense which you have approved and it has increased the debt of the TTFA even further.

In addition, you have hired a number of high-priced foreign coaches such as the Men’s Senior National Team head coach at US$20,000 per month, the goalkeeping coach at US$9,000 per month and the assistant coach to the national team at US$8,000 per month.

(Editor’s Note: The three persons mentioned—Terry Fenwick, Kelvin Jack, and Derek King respectively—were hired and offered their current salaries during the tenure of former TTFA president William Wallace.)

As we are sure you are aware, they are currently the highest paid coaching staff in the region. In an already cash strapped environment, would it not be more prudent to retain our well capable local coaches for a reasonable cost?

We the members are of the opinion that this is not financially prudent and it clearly illustrates poor financial management. Which is contrary to your instructions given by Fifa.

There are also examples in the Futsal and the Beach Soccer Teams where you have hired expensive foreign coaches and during this financially turbulent time when you need to manage our limited funds wisely of which you have not been doing.

Your spending on coaches is exorbitant, excessive and ridiculous. Such expenditure cannot be justified given your debt management mandate by Fifa. 

Mr Hadad, it seems like you have adopted an ostentatious approach to the management of the Association. In a situation where the Normalisation Committee was introduced to liquidate our outstanding debt, under your stewardship, the TTFA has been incurring increasing debt and this illustrates how you have mismanaged the funding provided by Fifa.

(Review and amend the TTFA statutes and ensure their compliance with the Fifa statutes)

The normalisation committee is expected to review and amend the TTFA Statues to ensure compliance with the Fifa Statutes and requirements and submit the amendments to the TTFA Congress for approval.

To date, the members of the association have neither been informed of any such amendments to the statutes nor was it submitted to congress for approval.

Article13:m of the TTFA Constitution states that the members are obligated to ratify a constitution that is in accordance with the requirements of this (TTFA) Constitution.

We therefore seek further clarification on the execution of this mandate as there has been no communication or consultation with us regarding same.

(Run the TTFA’s daily affairs)

Twelve months have passed since Fifa appointed you as the chairman of the normalisation committee of the TTFA and during this time, you have failed to conduct the daily affairs of the TTFA adequately. To date, there has been no communication between the normalisation committee and the members of the TTFA, no monthly management reports presented to members since the committee’s appointment in March 2020, no budgets or projected cash flow statements for the year 2021.

Please note as members of the TTFA we are very concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability regarding the day-to-day affairs of the association.

You were aware of the world cup qualifying game against Guyana for nine months and yet you failed to submit a proposal to the government ministries to obtain the approvals to play the game in Trinidad. In fact, you were publicly chastised by the minister of sports for not submitting the proposal on time; and by the time it was submitted it was too late and we had to play our home game in the Dominican Republic.

It is also interesting that you were also blamed for this [by] the head coach of the Senior Men’s National team.

But what was even more disturbing was that the staff of the TTFA was blamed for sabotaging the game. But the TTFA staff reports to you; so you are ultimately to blame.

To date, there has been no Annual General Meeting called for the year 2020 which contravenes the TTFA’s Constitution.

Article 27 of the TTFA Constitution states:

1. The Annual General Meeting shall be held every year in the month of September. If it is not possible to hold the meeting in September, the date of the meeting by the Board of Directors on the date not later than 30th of November of the said year.

2. The Board of Directors shall fix the place and date. The members shall be notified in writing at least 60 days in advance.

3. The formal convocation shall be made in writing at least 14 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. This convocation shall contain the agenda, the activity report, the financial statements, the independent external auditors’ report, and the minutes of the last general meeting as well as any other relevant documents.

Further, Article 12:1 Members’ rights states that the: Members have the following rights: a) to take part in the General Meeting, to receive its agenda in advance, to be called to the General Meeting within the prescribed time and to exercise their voting rights.

Please indicate when the annual general meeting would be called for the year ended December 2020 as it is long overdue.

The Audited Financial Statements have not yet been presented to the TTFA members or published for the year ended 31st December, 2020. The deadline for publishing the TTFA’s Audited Financial Statements was the 31st March, 2021 and as such, it is overdue.

I wish to draw your attention to  article 71 of the TTFA’s Constitution which states: The independent external auditors appointed by the General Meeting shall audit the accounts approved by the Finance Committee in accordance with the appropriate principles of accounting and present a report to the General Meeting.

Kindly indicate when the Audited Financials will be completed and presented to the Members of the Association and published.

This is clearly a sign of poor financial management and inept corporate governance. It is also a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.

We also wish to remind you that submission of audited financial statements is a critical part of the Compliance Process of Fifa and you have ignored this. This is not a good example to set for the clubs in Trinidad and Tobago, as they too must submit audited financial statements by 31 March, 2021.

Here again you have failed in running the daily operations of Trinidad and Tobago football.

You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself? This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions.

Here again you have flagrantly ignored proper corporate governance procedures. We wish to inform you that an auditor must be appointed for the year 2021 and this appointment must come from the members and not yourself.

It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an audit and compliance committee and this is a vital part of proper corporate governance as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.

Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.

There have been no standing committees appointed by the normalisation committee to date. These committees form an integral part of effective management as their core function is to provide support and in house expertise required to manage and run the association efficiently and effectively.

Standing Committees are at the helm of international corporate governance and the requirement for them are enshrined in Article 43 of the constitution which states:

The standing committees are: Finance Committee; Audit and Compliance Committee; Organising Committee for TTFA Competitions; Technical and Development Committee; Referees Committee; Legal Committee; Committee for Women’s Football; Youth Football and Development Committee; Sports Medicine Committee; Players’ Status Committee; Marketing Committee.

Article 40.2 of the TTFA Constitution states: members of the standing committees shall be designated for a term of office of four years. It is also noteworthy that Fifa’s Statues also state that standing committees shall advise and assist the executive.

Fifa, on appointment of the normalisation Committee did not disband our existing Committees which were implemented by the previous administration. Rather, they disbanded the executive and appointed the normalisation Committee.

As such, what became of those committees?

Moreover, failure to appoint the aforementioned Standing Committees has resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability with the stakeholders of the TTFA, as well as a general distrust between the Members and the Normalisation Committee.

Furthermore, the absence of the aforementioned committees undermines the integrity of the Association and minimises our chances of optimal performance in the international arena.

Article 47 of the Constitution states: The Technical and Development Committee shall primarily analyse the basic aspects of football training and technical development.

How therefore, do you propose to run football in Trinidad and Tobago without a Technical and Development Committee? As enshrined in our constitution, this committee is responsible for establishing and executing a structured plan aimed toward preparedness and advancement of our national teams on the international stage.

Yet, more than twelve months into your appointment, we have not heard or seen any evidence of such.

In fact, to date there has been no presentation of development programs for our National Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 Football Teams and we are still awaiting a program for the development of Women’s Football. Here again you have failed in your mandate to run the daily affairs of football in Trinidad and Tobago.

We also wish to remind you that your primary function was to develop a debt repayment plan, yet you have not appointed a finance committee and this is incompetent on your part as you have not developed a debt repayment plan and even worse your decisions have increased the expenses of TTFA. 

You have failed to appoint a technical committee and this is a glaringly poor decision since you and your other committee members do not have football experience in Trinidad and therefore it would be difficult to manage the operation of football in Trinidad and Tobago without such experience.

Who does the coaches report to? You? We urge that you must recognise that you do not have the technical footballing experience to supervise the performance of the national coaches and this will lead to poor decisions on your part.

With Trinidad and Tobago football being in a depressed situation you have also failed to establish a development plan for under-13s, under-15s and under-17s men’s and women’s  teams and as such there is no forward planning on your part. Obviously, this is a bi-product of not having a  technical committee. 

You seem to believe that a team can prepare for eight months and this is sufficient to compete on an international level. This is not acceptable, teams must prepare for at least three years to be effective.

This is a year for women’s world cup qualifying, yet you have not appointed a women’s coach as yet. This is also, grossly weak when one considers that the post has been advertised months ago and the TTFA has received funding from Fifa for women’s football.

Even more concerning, is that this is a World Cup qualifying for year for women’s football, and there is a real opportunity to qualify for this world cup and the women’s senior team is not even training, this is not acceptable and it is another sign of weak management. 

It is alleged that Mr Fenwick, at a press conference, at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Wednesday 21 March, 2021 physically assaulted Media Officer Shaun Fuentes in front of journalists. What became of this incident?

As members of the TTFA, we would like to know what disciplinary measures were taken against Mr Fenwick for such aggressive and disrespectful behaviour. Is this the type of behaviour we allow to be swept under the carpet?

Needless to say, Article 18.2 of Mr Fenwick’s contract states: Where the coach is accused of criminal activity for an offence which carries a term of imprisonment of more than 12 months, and/or accused of any conduct which may bring the association into disrepute […], or such conduct as the association may in its absolute discretion declare to be disgraceful, the coach shall be immediately suspended to allow for the dispute resolution process as is hereinafter set out to take effect.

It seems like Mr Fenwick has a history of violence and indiscipline as this is not the first time he has been unable to control his temper.

On 4 November 2005, while employed as the head coach of San Juan Jabloteh, he physically assaulted W Connection Player, Gefferson Goulart with his forearm. At least he was suspended for approximately ten games.

Furthermore, the national team head coach has on several occasions, publicly criticised the normalisation committee and your good self.

What measures have been taken by the committee to establish respect and discipline from its employees? Moreover, what disciplinary actions are taken against employees who are insubordinate?

This type of misconduct from senior officials undermines the integrity of the game and shows poor corporate governance. It also shows a lack of discipline and respect. This type of behaviour poorly reflects on the TTFA and by extension Trinidad and Tobago.

Here again you have mismanaged the situation and you are encouraging violence and aggression within the TTFA and this is unacceptable by the members.

We wish to raise the following concerns regarding Mr Fenwick’s contract:

The contract does not detail the reporting requirements of the head coach. As such various questions arise.

Who does the head coach report to? How often is he expected to report to them? Which reports are required and by what date? How is the association’s board of directors informed about the performance and progress of the Men’s Senior National Team? This is a very critical omission from the contract.

Performance indicators and measurements are an intrinsic part of football and any contract. It helps its users understand how various entities of the game are performing and identifies whether or not goals are being met.

The contract omits how the head coach’s performance is to be measured. That is, his win rate percentage target, goals scored per game target, goals conceded per game. These are normal key performance indicators that should be included in the contract that would ensure performance and value for money.

Are these omissions of performance measures an error or was it on purpose?

The contract should also identify that if these targets are not met remedial action can be taken by TTFA which to date, it has not.

Contrastingly, the contract has stated in clause 12 that the performance of the coach shall be reviewed on the 20th month out of its 24 months (24 months being the total duration of the contract) and a review will be submitted for the coach’s comments.

This is unacceptable as the Coach must be held to a higher standard of accountability as the aforementioned review does not seem to be proportionate to the remuneration of the coach. Moreover, the coach should be evaluated on at least a quarterly basis to accurately determine the progress of the senior team. 

This (remuneration in the image above) seems quite exorbitant when one considers that TTFA is insolvent due to debts of over fifty million dollars and no real means of repaying the debt. And yet a decision is made to pay one coach US$37,275 per month for four years and TTFA  has no stable source of income to pay this salary.

In addition, the TTFA seems to have a habit of issuing contracts to individuals without determining if they can afford it, and this process has created the massive debt of fifty million dollars. It is also the norm in TTFA to provide coaches with contracts and simply do not pay them.

In addition, if you compare what other coaches are paid in Caribbean Islands that are ranked higher than Trinidad and Tobago on Fifa World Rankings, the average salary is US$8,000 to US$12,000 per month. Mr Fenwick’s contract is over three times the average rate.

Also, this contract’s validity is questionable as the board of directors did not approve the terms of same.

Mr Hadad, what measures have been taken to date, to address these very obvious irregularities?

It is also disturbing that the past general secretary, Ramesh Ramdhan, was suspended and Terry Fenwick was retained. This does not seem logical since both have irregularities with their contract and one was retained and the other suspended. This precedent will obviously surface in the ensuing court case with Mr Ramdhan of which we are sure you can answer in court.

Ultimately, we the members are very concerned about the weak management of football in Trinidad and Tobago. To date, the mandate as outlined by Fifa’s appointment letter dated 27 March 2020 has not been achieved and it does not look like it will be achieved under your stewardship.

Moreover, you have failed to communicate effectively with the members, seemingly attempting to manage the TTFA on your own.

You have also made several glaring errors regarding following proper corporate governance procedures—namely, failure to call the annual general meeting of TTFA, failure to produce audited financial statements for 2020 by the 31 March 2021 and the failure to appoint external auditors, a finance committee, an audit and compliance committee and a technical committee.   

As such, we look forward to a prompt response from you with regards to our aforementioned concerns and ask that you specify in detail, how these matters will be addressed.

‘A breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud!’ TTFA Members report Hadad-led NC to Fifa.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


Eight of the 16 bodies that comprise the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) have accused Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad and his colleagues of ‘weak management’, poor communication, ‘glaring errors regarding […] proper corporate governance’ and ‘creating a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.

The accusations, supported by multiple examples in a 14-page letter, were sent to Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura, Hadad and normalisation committee members Judy Daniel, Nigel L Romano and Trevor Nicholas Gomez today by Eastern FA president Kieron Edwards, in the strongest move yet against the current, non-elected TTFA head and his controversial body.

The letter was signed by acting Pro League chairman Brent Sancho, Northern FA president Ross Russell, Central FA president Shymdeo Gosine, Southern FA president Richard Quan Chan, Eastern Counties FU vice-president Ian Pritchard, Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales, and Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer.

Together, the signatories represent bodies that account for 28 of the TTFA’s 47 member delegates—although it does not necessarily mean that each delegate within the respective body feels the same way. On the surface, though, it would appear that Hadad has lost the confidence of more than half of the TTFA.

In a break from the norm, the normalisation committee responded swiftly via a press statement, which asked for more time to solve the highlighted issues while noting that the complaints were not entirely accurate.

“We understand the concerns of the TTFA Members and will be addressing those issues with the membership directly this week,” stated the unsigned release from the TTFA Media. “[…] It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership, so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties.

“It is however unfortunate that this letter, which was sent internally, has found its way into the media space. Trust between the TTFA and its membership is paramount to developing this strong relationship and we believe that by working together earnestly, it can be achieved.”

Hadad, the co-CEO of HadCo Limited, was appointed by Fifa on 27 March 2020 along with Daniel and Romano, while Gomez was added to the normalisation committee earlier this year.

Hadad received the support of 38 TTFA delegates, including Edwards, on 28 October 2020 when members voted to accept the authority of his committee, which was the final nail in the coffin of then local football president William Wallace. The Fifa suspension of the TTFA was subsequently lifted on 15 November 2020.

However, the mood has shifted steadily since, with creditors and stakeholders—including former technical director Anton Corneal, coaches association president Jefferson George, Downer and anonymous players—criticising Hadad’s supposed callous, unilateral leadership style and aversion to the truth.

Fifa has now been officially informed of the mutinous mood against the businessman and his gang, whose ‘poor financial management and inept corporate governance’ was accused of creating ‘a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud’.

The TTFA membership also charged that the normalisation committee’s attempt to run local football without any standing committees was a further example of the unsuitability of Hadad, Daniel, Romano and Gomez to the task.

“[…] How therefore, do you propose to run football in Trinidad and Tobago without a technical and development committee—as enshrined in our constitution?” asked the TTFA members. “[…] Who does the coaches report to? You? We urge that you must recognise that you do not have the technical footballing experience to supervise the performance of the national coaches and this will lead to poor decisions on your part.

“[…] We also wish to remind you that your primary function was to develop a debt repayment plan, yet you have not appointed a finance committee. This is incompetent on your part, as you have not developed a debt repayment plan and even worse your decisions have increased the expenses of TTFA.”

At least as worrying, according to the letter, was Hadad’s failure to call an annual general meeting to allow for the appointment of external auditors, and to scrap the audit and compliance committee.

“You have not called an annual general meeting and as such who will appoint the external auditors? Yourself?” TTFA’s members asked. “This is clearly unacceptable, since you cannot appoint an auditor that will audit your financial decisions. It is even more astounding that you have elected not to appoint an audit and compliance committee […] as this committee is critical in reviewing the financial performance of your management.

“Your decisions regarding the aforementioned fact are frightening and it is a breeding ground for mismanagement and fraud.”

The TTFA members also criticised Hadad and the normalisation committee for failure to address issues with the contract of Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick as well as his behaviour, as evidenced by his public altercation with press officer Shaun Fuentes.

“Here again you have mismanaged the situation and you are encouraging violence and aggression within the TTFA,” stated the letter, “and this is unacceptable by the members.”

Fenwick was hired under the Wallace-led administration. However, the members suggested that the normalisation committee suspended general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan for issues with his contract while continuing to recognise the English coach.

Among the listed concerns are that the normalisation committee:

1. Not only failed to offer a cohesive, structured debt repayment plan—as mandated by Fifa—but has been incapable of handling the current expenses of the local body, such as payments to national coaches;

2. Increased debt by hiring Adrian Romain as team manager while Captain Basil Thompson was in the position and moving the latter to the post of logistics manager, which is non-existent according to the constitution;

3. Saddled TTFA with a string of ‘expensive foreign coaches’ which ‘illustrates poor financial management’ and was ‘exorbitant, excessive and ridiculous’;

4. Failed to address any TTFA Statutes in need of amendments;

5. Failed to present any management reports or display basic transparency and accountability regarding the TTFA’s day-to-day affairs;

6. Mismanaged World Cup qualifiers by failing to submit proposal for home games in timely fashion, despite knowing about the fixtures nine months in advance;

7. Failed to hold AGM or provide audited financial statements for year ending 31 December 2020, which is ‘a critical part of the compliance process of Fifa’.

8. Failed to follow ‘proper corporate governance procedures’ and the TTFA constitution by appointing external auditors, an audit and compliance committee, or any standing committees at all.

The letter criticised the normalisation committee for its failure to hire a Women’s National Senior Team head coach. However, by the time it had amassed signatures from more than half of the TTFA’s member bodies, the normalisation committee had hired Welshman James Thomas for that task.

Thomas was announced as the Women’s Soca Warriors head coach on Thursday.

The controversial clauses in Fenwick’s contract identified in the letter were also approved by Wallace, rather than Hadad.

Wired868 asked Hadad for a response to the accusations by the TTFA members and whether he had, as promised, employed the same management techniques in local football that he uses at HadCo. He did not reply up to the time of publication.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline pull stones

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Well they were in favor of a normalization committee and they got it, now deal with the fall out of your decisions, don’t cry, suck it up.

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Awai tells TTFA’s membership to help themselves
« Reply #746 on: May 08, 2021, 05:29:16 PM »
Awai tells TTFA’s membership to help themselves
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)


Mike Awai, the former AC Port-of-Spain Business Development Manager has come out in support of FIFA-installed Normalisation Committee chairman Robert Hadad after a 15-page document by the football’s membership on May 1, branded him as incompetent.

The members in a strongly worded document criticised Hadad and the Normalisation Committee in every area of the management of the sport, ranging from not holding an annual general meeting (AGM) to not producing audited financial statement, T&T’s preparation ahead of the T&T vs Guyana World Cup Qualifying match on March 25, operating without standing committees, the non-payment of coaches, players and staff, together with the appointments of national coaches for the respective teams and the concerns raised in regards to the contact of senior national coach Terry Fenwick among many other areas.

The letter was copied to FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura and the other members of the normalisation committee inclusive of Deputy chairman and attorney Judy Daniel, former banker Nigel Romano and Trevor Gomez.

However, Awai has called on the members to understand the decision taken by FIFA, which is aimed at stabilising local football financially. He also suggested that the members focus on how they can help themselves in the current situation instead of complaining about the normalisation committee at every turn.

In March last year, the sport’s world governing body handed the normalisation committee the responsibility of managing the affairs of T&T football, as it felt the United T&TFA which was led by William Wallace, had placed the sport in a state of bankruptcy and illiquidity.

As a result, it (FIFA) provided the committee with a mandate:
1. To run the TTFA’S daily affairs
2. To establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA
3. To review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and
4. To organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate

The members in their letter argued that none of the areas listed by FIFA has been achieved by the normalisation committee, and noted that the chairman has, in fact, put the football association in an even more dire financial position.

Awai, in a list of observations, said: “I have gleaned the report/letter from the TTFA membership to FIFA and wish to make the following observations:
1. FIFA is being told that it hired an incompetent person as Chairman of the Normalisation Committee.
2. The TTFA membership has not realised that FIFA has taken the responsibility to put TTFA back on a sound financial footing.
3. The membership should focus a bit on how it can help itself in the present situation.
4. At every turn the membership is complaining and/or criticising the very body, the Normalisation Committee, that has been appointed to bring football out of the morass the TTFA and football stakeholders have found themselves in.

I understand the position of the coaches and Admin staff who have not been paid for a while. They are out of pocket for some time. I also understand that the TTFA’s resources are limited. I had hoped that the chairman would have met with the relevant persons to resolve the financial issues amicably.”

The letter by the membership comes on the heels of a chorus of calls by national teams’ coaches, players and staff, among others, for payment of salaries, match fees and stipend. Hadad yesterday agreed to meet with the coaches to discuss issues raised.

The local football boss also agreed to meet with membership this week to iron out all concerns, though refuting some of the accusations made in the letter.

Meanwhile, Awai also said he had hopes that the membership would have submitted proposals to keep football afloat in T&T. He concluded by saying: “ Recalibration is necessary instead of being combative. Let us move forward in a positive manner.”
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FIFA NC to answer TTFA members today.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).


A response from the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee to the membership of the T&T Football Association is expected on Tuesday, a member of the Board of Directors of the TTFA has said.

The members accused Hadad of gross mismanagement last week Saturday (May 1) in carrying out a mandate given by the sport's world governing body for football - FIFA, to stabilise T&T football, clear a crippling debt and prepare the members for elections in two years time.

Hadad was called out for a number of issues, including the non-payment of salaries to staff, players and coaches of the senior national men's team, no audited and compliance committee, no annual general meetings (AGM), no audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020; increasing debt and poor financial management, and the mismanagement of the World Cup match against Guyana that was eventually played in the Dominican Republic.

Attorney Judy Daniel, one of the members of the normalisation committee who had been trapped abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Monday that while she was not at liberty to speak on issues coming out of the committee as there is a spokesman for that purpose, she did give the assurance that the committee will be issuing a response to the TTFA membership very soon.

Hadad and his other members, former banker Nigel Romano and businessman Trevor Gomez could not be reached for comment, but upon receipt of the 15-page letter from the membership on April 8, Hadad said: "The Normalisation process was fully allowed to function as of November 2020 and the process for any Member Association is difficult and challenging. FIFA and CONCACAF continue to guide this process as we work towards resurrecting football out of its doldrums, which has been made more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It must be noted that many details outlined in the document are inaccurate and based on assumptions. We will endeavour to improve on the communication channels between the TTFA and its membership so that the members are provided with accurate sources of information on these matters, with the aim of fostering a stronger relationship between all parties."

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Did Haddad and TTFA had the long awaited meeting ?

Offline Brownsugar

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This firetrucking farce still ongoing??!! steups!!! :bs: :cursing:  :banginghead:
"...If yuh clothes tear up
Or yuh shoes burst off,
You could still jump up when music play.
Old lady, young baby, everybody could dingolay...
Dingolay, ay, ay, ay ay,
Dingolay ay, ay, ay..."

RIP Shadow....The legend will live on in music...

 

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