The Empire Strikes Back - The oppression of T&T football

[Controversial]

It’s almost laughable to see how threatened bigger nations feel by our twin island republic making progressive strides to stability.

The progress of T&T football is seen as a threat because of our talent and skill and with a good coach and structured, disciplined football we pose the biggest risk to the so called top teams in Concacaf.

From my observations, the team we were assembling would not only put us back on top but also put us in a position to go for the qualifying spot in the 2022 WC.

This is more than just money, it’s about power in the region, superiority and it’s very political. Suppression of our football because of the hegemony enjoyed by the few. The Caribbean region on the whole in fact.

We have always been more talented but our federation has always sold out and been corrupt, so corrupt that it has squandered our talent over the decades because people of colour, the African diaspora must stay midway or below; despite having the votes necessary to rule world football.

It started with the dismantling of Hart, getting rid of our best players at that time, puppet replacements to ensure our football is kept at a substandard level to ensure others success, putting in place a president who is controlled and is in the “House”. Followed by a string of losses and insurmountable debt, in hopes the football fraternity will be docile and football fans would lose interest.

Then came the turning point, elections that would overturn their plans and get rid of their puppet coach and President. This angered many who stand to benefit from the downfall of TT football.

The colonial mentality is to make those believe they are not talented enough and that they are having delusions of grandeur when in fact it’s quite the opposite. The talent is there and was always there, so much so that it upsets the equation, the status quo.

So what better time to react, pandemic, a health crisis that dominates the media. It presents a perfect opportunity to swoop in and remove any progressive team that will upset the hierarchy in Concacaf. There are sectors as we know in society that don’t want to see people of colour on top. These are facts that we must face, it’s beyond money, there are deeper implications involved here.

They saw our trajectory and had to put a stop to it, there is nothing normal about that. We are staring in the face of hypocrisy and corruption to its highest degree. As one poster said, we should take this lying down.

In fact, I believe we need to be united against the sell outs locally and those who stand to oppress us and our football. We have to finally stand united, this is not ego, it’s about seeing our people, our team and our sports progress to where it should have been decades ago.

United we stand, divided we fall...

[theworm2345]

I agree with most of what has been written here, aside from one thing -- up until FIFA's actions yesterday, as poorly as the past two Concacaf regimes have treated the Caribbean, it has mainly been a relationship of where they just sort of do the bare minimum in the region (just try to find accurate match data for the last few Caribbean tournaments, club or international, on Concacaf's site), but not actually subverting the game in the Caribbean.  The only people responsible for the Caribbean lagging behind are the people who run the game at the local level across the region (e.g. people at the FAs).  I have dealt with all 31 FAs across the Caribbean to various extents in the past 12 years.  There is a small minority of administrators who are actually striving for progress, but the fact of the matter is, in many of these countries, the administration is only concerned about maintaining their status and any sign of progress is considered a threat.  As FA President or General Secretary, you get a good salary as well as free trips (and accommodation) to Europe and other places around the world for FIFA and Concacaf meetings.  This is why you have top tier leagues in the Caribbean that don't have a coherent/accurate league table, why overseas professionals arrive on island for the first time for national duty with no one there to meet them, why coaches and other staff in the region constantly go over a year without pay, etc, etc, etc (I can go on for hours).

As I wrote in the other thread, in 2017, shortly after an incredibly-poorly organized Caribbean Cup, where the points system and competition format really didn't make sense, the CFU allowed itself to be consigned to oblivion by Concacaf, thus ending any sort of block power they might have had.

To me, this is what makes the decision yesterday so galling -- that one FA had started, to quote Any Given Sunday, "claw its way out out of hell" and make a positive change, only for FIFA to subvert them.

[Controversial]

I agree with most of what has been written here, aside from one thing -- up until FIFA's actions yesterday, as poorly as the past two Concacaf regimes have treated the Caribbean, it has mainly been a relationship of where they just sort of do the bare minimum in the region (just try to find accurate match data for the last few Caribbean tournaments, club or international, on Concacaf's site), but not actually subverting the game in the Caribbean. 

A part of their subversion is placing heads in power that they control and the bare minimum is what I would classify as a end product of their subversion... it’s  very evident, a good comparison is with the colonial tax with France and the continual coups, very similar to the coups done on our football... subversion has come in different forms, key factor of oppression is doing the bare minimum and having those in power follow through with doing the bare minimum ...it all depends on your perspective


The only people responsible for the Caribbean lagging behind are the people who run the game at the local level across the region (e.g. people at the FAs).  I have dealt with all 31 FAs across the Caribbean to various extents in the past 12 years.  There is a small minority of administrators who are actually striving for progress, but the fact of the matter is, in many of these countries, the administration is only concerned about maintaining their status and any sign of progress is considered a threat.  As FA President or General Secretary, you get a good salary as well as free trips (and accommodation) to Europe and other places around the world for FIFA and Concacaf meetings.  This is why you have top tier leagues in the Caribbean that don't have a coherent/accurate league table, why overseas professionals arrive on island for the first time for national duty with no one there to meet them, why coaches and other staff in the region constantly go over a year without pay, etc, etc, etc (I can go on for hours).

This all ties into an oppressive regime or overlords which instruct from govt go down, where heads follow those with the clout and those with the most clout tend to be the ones that sold out... our govt tows the line on this and are very much a part of the scheme and undermining.. the TT govt and many of the other governments have the resources to put behind football, the people but choose not to... the 31 FAs are all under control, with all having colonial ties, ties to the bigger nations who determine state politics and also sport etc... TT is head in the Caribbean when it comes to football, anyone in control directly influences the rest of the islands, fifa doesn’t want someone who is not for them there, nor does it want Caribbean football to rise..

Case in point... if fifa was interested in Caribbean and TT football rising, they would have wanted a successful football squad, bc that will generate more revenues for the region, which they would then run their under the table deals which would guarantee kickbacks, it has never been about that, Caribbean football and TT football rising means more power and influence, people of color now controlling a bloc vote which puts their power at risk... it also doesn’t play into the discriminatory agenda of oppression, so sabotage, bribery, undermining, corruption, theft is what we are limited to... of course with their puppets in charge



As I wrote in the other thread, in 2017, shortly after an incredibly-poorly organized Caribbean Cup, where the points system and competition format really didn't make sense, the CFU allowed itself to be consigned to oblivion by Concacaf, thus ending any sort of block power they might have had.

Orchestrated... it’s paramount that Cfu doesn’t exercise its voting power under a progressive head, namely TT

To me, this is what makes the decision yesterday so galling -- that one FA had started, to quote Any Given Sunday, "claw its way out out of hell" and make a positive change, only for FIFA to subvert them.

I agree, I applaud you for your work with the FAs btw, I coulda imagine how much drama that must have been but I’m happy you shared your story, hopefully we can band together to get rid of this scourge and move our football forward, something many want to stop