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Offline pull stones

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Re: Disillusionment
« Reply #180 on: October 20, 2020, 01:45:56 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.

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.
how these guys ever made the cut to have to opportunity to write an article in the news paper is beyond me. i've seen about a thousand articles on this issue, and no one ever gets to the bottom line, it's just the same ole the united ttfa was replaced by the NC on such and such a date, and this, that and the other transpired in between.

it's amazing to see that no one ever mention's jack warner's input in all this, or how DJW single handedly robbed the office for his own gain, and how he went behind the scenes and manipulated a further onslaught on football, and why this united TTFA put up such a fight and for reasons being, and how fifa was severely heavy handed and unfair, and what could be the reason for their heavy handedness....or collusion.

all this writing by fazeer (and i know he means well) to say what? all this writing to say what countless journalist has already said? come on mate, i'm sure you can delve deeper into the mud pile than your multiple attempts suggest.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2020, 01:51:14 AM by pull stones »

Offline vb

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #181 on: October 20, 2020, 04:34:47 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.

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.
how these guys ever made the cut to have to opportunity to write an article in the news paper is beyond me. i've seen about a thousand articles on this issue, and no one ever gets to the bottom line, it's just the same ole the united ttfa was replaced by the NC on such and such a date, and this, that and the other transpired in between.

it's amazing to see that no one ever mention's jack warner's input in all this, or how DJW single handedly robbed the office for his own gain, and how he went behind the scenes and manipulated a further onslaught on football, and why this united TTFA put up such a fight and for reasons being, and how fifa was severely heavy handed and unfair, and what could be the reason for their heavy handedness....or collusion.

all this writing by fazeer (and i know he means well) to say what? all this writing to say what countless journalist has already said? come on mate, i'm sure you can delve deeper into the mud pile than your multiple attempts suggest.

Nah man, look this journalist do it here. ;-)

https://www.hail-caribbean-sport.com/
VITAMIN V...KEEPS THE LADIES HEALTHY...:-)

Offline pull stones

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #182 on: October 20, 2020, 08:18:54 AM »
I see you’re a very modest man VB, instead of alluding to oneself you chose to remain anonymous. good article though verseen but I wasn’t alluding to journalist like you who writes for a weekly publication, I was merely speaking to big newspaper journalist in Trinidad and Tobago who don’t take the time to do proper research and really use the opportunity to comprehensively enlighten John public in a meaningful way.

Those jokers write these flimsy dime a dozen articles and throw it to public like hungry fowls pecking away at dirt, and could care less about what’s true and what’s not, truth is, they’re only in it for a pay check. as for the prime minister, please mate you can’t really put him in fifa’s corner that conveniently even though he did speak foolishly of the process, and I believe he’s not a fan of fifa simply because at the opening ceremony of the HOF, the PM was very harsh on fifa and infantino in particular to the point of embarrassment.

in all honesty I believe that william wallace and company did themselves no favors from the very beginning when they side stepped the government to go it alone, and it was only when they got in a bind with fifa that they sought help from the MOS.

for instance regarding the HOF, they could have went to the government for help in getting it up to standard, but instead chose to build another facility in arima claiming that the HOF was unfinished and unusable. they also dropped the ball when they went to the local courts. I honestly thought they squandered an opportunity when the minister of sports begged them to go back to CAS, they could have bargained their way to CAS by having the MOS pay the court cost.

and though the PM talked out of sorts regarding the case, he probably was never really verse on the matter which also gave these men another opportunity to sit with the powers that be in the country and bring an awareness to the situation, IMO they dropped the ball all the way and was ill advised on handling this situation.

Now today it all came to nought, fifa played them well like a fine tuned fiddle. ms Warwick resigned, look loy resigned, and I’m sure the rest will follow, or they could be ousted by losing the trust of the stake holders, instead of bringing them on board  fro the very beginning with full support for their cause. again, all that effort for nought.

don’t get me wrong i was all for their cause when they stayed focused, but they lost me when they flip flopped on many occasions, from CAS to the high court, then back to the stakeholders, then dropping the case only to reopen it again the next day after already consulting with the stakeholders and agreeing on a way forward, this was a bit too wishy washy for me and many others who previously supported the stand off, and in the end what did they accomplish? I’m sorry but it was all for nought. i can’t, I just can’t.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2020, 12:39:12 PM by pull stones »

Offline Rastaman

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #183 on: October 20, 2020, 09:41:43 AM »
Excellent article VB.....it is astounding to me how other people cannot see this

Online maxg

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #184 on: October 20, 2020, 05:45:21 PM »
Excellent article VB.....it is astounding to me how other people cannot see this
Oh they see it. The resulting thoughts process and eventual outcomes generated from those visions do not align with those individuals alternate various agendas. All of which may have one common thread, pull on it, they all come unraveled.

Offline Deeks

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #185 on: October 20, 2020, 10:03:19 PM »
Good going VB. Blessings.

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #186 on: October 21, 2020, 02:18:28 AM »
Excellent article VB.....it is astounding to me how other people cannot see this
Oh they see it. The resulting thoughts process and eventual outcomes generated from those visions do not align with those individuals alternate various agendas. All of which may have one common thread, pull on it, they all come unraveled.

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Offline Flex

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #187 on: October 21, 2020, 03:56:02 PM »
Dear Editor: Dr Rowley must not put Fifa above our laws—even if it is foreign, white, powerful and rich.
Wired868.com.


“[…] I note that in response to Mr [William] Wallace’s indication that Parliament can change our law if it wants, the prime minister responded by saying that he is willing to help wherever he can.

“I trust that that help will not include an official, parliamentary setting aside of our constitution and placing a private corporation, and its rules, above the powers of our Parliament or the sovereignty of our country—even if that corporation is foreign, white, powerful and rich…”

In the following Letter to the Editor, David Christopher Benjamin, a consultant and community activist, responds to Nigel Scott’s legal view of the battle between the TTFA and FIFA:

I saw a letter to the editor on Wired868 titled ‘A legal view’. It seems to try to explore some of the technicalities of legal process according to Fifa’s rules. The title would suggest that it is exploring all the legal aspects of this issue.

For some reason, however, it doesn’t. It takes the position of starting with Fifa’s contractual rules and asking why the TTFA, having contracted, has not followed them.

By now, we have heard of Justice Carol Gobin’s judgment in which she pointed out that a contract between private parties cannot override statutory obligations—a point I have made here quite clearly before.

She went on to point out that such contractual provisions with respect to arbitration are in fact quite normal in many areas (such as construction). And in none of them are they meant to preempt completely, recourse to the courts, despite the primacy given to arbitration.

We have had enough experience with Cricket West Indies to know the dangers of a body that is accountable to no one. So why are we not starting from the point of the legislation in this jurisdiction where TTFA exists and asking why Fifa has made no attempt to be consistent with it?

The answer may simply be that each person, having looked at the overall situation, the risks involved and the possible ultimate result, has decided—based on his own appetite for risk—what position he supports. That is very evident here.

This is reasonable and very personal. I understand that the same thing applies to me and the positions I have taken. And I cannot expect anyone else to replicate my desire for justice or my appetite for risk, including the sacrifice that may have to go with the hope of achieving positive long-term change in the international system.

Which brings me back to a comment I saw made by a friend who analysed both sides of this matter. What struck me was the last sentence of his comment. It simply said ‘there are no legal answers to be had here’. And I suspect that he is right.

Legal options have played themselves out; or, at least, soon will. The outstanding issue of achieving justice finally (and by ‘finally’ I mean at an international level that influences Fifa to do the right thing) will require the intervention of parties who have the power to influence Fifa.

The contradictions that exist between the Fifa contract and the local legislation cannot be resolved by anything other than parties deciding which one they will follow, and hopefully coming to some agreement between themselves.

Maybe the local powers can seek to assist the TTFA in their justified ‘negotiations’ with the international power that is Fifa.

I note that in response to Mr Wallace’s indication that Parliament can change our law if it wants, the prime minister responded by saying that he is willing to help wherever he can.

I trust that that help will not include an official, parliamentary setting aside of our constitution and placing a private corporation, and its rules, above the powers of our Parliament or the sovereignty of our country—even if that corporation is foreign, white, powerful and rich.

Changing the law in a way that will force the TTFA to simply comply with whatever Fifa says at any time, and in a way which removes the recourse that TTFA has to justice in their own country, will be a massive step backward for a black country.

It was interesting that Mr Wallace pointed out that the United Kingdom is one of the countries whose constitution and contract with Fifa mirror the status in Trinidad. The UK is the jurisdiction which gave the world ‘the beautiful game’ and which passed the (global governance) ball to Fifa in 1904.

Can you imagine, years later, the UK being told by Fifa that they have to go to their Parliament to give up their sovereignty in order to ensure that Fifa can dictate all aspects of football without fetter ? I would want to be a fly on that wall.

Of course in the end, what is required here is for the world to find a way to ensure that Fifa—and CAS—operate in a businesslike, non-corrupt manner with efficient and fair processes, which are subject to accountability and transparency.

And that Fifa operates at all times in the interest of the people that they serve and not see these people as subjects, or as enemies to be fought and destroyed at every disagreement.

Operating in the interest of its membership requires a mindset that honours, as a duty, collaborative interaction among equals.

How did we get here ? Had Fifa taken the collaborative approach to the Trinidad and Tobago matter, we would not be here at all.

RELATED NEWS

Rowley ready to help! Wallace meets PM and sets EGM date, as TTFA targets Fifa deadline.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace will convene an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday 25 October with member delegates of the local football body.

And the agenda will deal specifically with ‘the way forward’ for the TTFA and the current Fifa suspension.

Wallace confirmed the date and agenda to Wired868 last night. As promised, the embattled administrator contacted his board within 24 hours of Tuesday’s High Court win, with the majority of directors agreeing to the meeting.

The TTFA has until 3pm on Friday 18 December to satisfy Fifa’s terms, or they could miss out on the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup as well as the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying series. Fifa gave the TTFA until 3pm CET (Central European Time), which would be 9am here. Concacaf’s deadline is 3pm Eastern Time, which is the same as T&T’s local time.

Football fans will hope the rift with Fifa is patched up before then, although the cost of doing so remains uncertain.

On 24 September, the Bureau of the Fifa Council, which is headed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, said: ‘this suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of Fifa, including recognising the legitimacy of the appointed normalisation committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the Fifa Statutes’.

Thus far, Fifa has not clarified what amendments are required, although it is presumed to be something that will allow the governing body to treat the TTFA’s elected officials as replaceable employees, rather than partners with some level of autonomy.

The TTFA’s legal team challenged the Fifa suspension at the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport on 25 September but are yet to get a hearing date. Wallace said they have asked for an expedited hearing. However, if one is not granted before the 25 October EGM, then the local body’s 47 member delegates will decide if to allow the case to continue, or if to withdraw it.

“The priority is trying to get the Fifa suspension lifted because the 18 December is right ahead,” said Wallace. “We don’t want to linger.”

Yesterday, Wallace and third vice-president Sam Phillip met Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Minister of National Security and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, and Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe from 2pm at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.

The meeting was arranged at the request of the prime minister and, ironically, it was the first time that Dr Rowley met Wallace since he was elected TTFA president on 24 November 2019.

Young did not even acknowledge Wallace’s emails, a few months ago, when the TTFA president thanked him for an upgrade at the Home of Football and subsequently enquired about footballers stranded in El Salvador. Instead, the Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP dealt exclusively with Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad at the time.

Cudjoe repeatedly derided Wallace’s legal battle with Fifa in the press, while Dr Rowley mocked the administrator’s legal win on Wednesday morning.

Wallace said Dr Rowley’s social media post did not come up in the meeting. And, although nobody congratulated him on Madame Justice Carol Gobin’s High Court ruling, the football president said the discussion itself was cordial and calm.

“The prime minister wanted to know if we want to continue playing football under Fifa,” Wallace told Wired868. “If we did not, then he wanted to know our plan going forward; and if we do, then he wanted to know what we have to do to remain playing as a part of Fifa.”

Wallace informed the prime minister that the TTFA does want to remain a member of Fifa, and the way forward from here on will be discussed with the membership on 25 October.

“I also told him that, based on the court’s interpretation of our statutes, the Parliament may very well have a part to play in that,” said Wallace, in reference to the yet unspecified constitutional amendment demanded by Fifa. “[Dr Rowley] said in whatever way they can help, they are willing and ready to help.”

Wallace noted that Trinidad and Tobago are not the only member association within Fifa which is incorporated by an Act of Parliament. The same is also true of England, Portugal, Australia and the United States of America, among others.

“If they are asking Trinidad and Tobago alone to change, then we will have a real issue with that,” said Wallace.

But he insisted that the general meeting will decide. Unlike their previous meeting with members, the 25 October conclave will be a formal one with the president obliged to follow the guidance of his membership.

Does Wallace want to remain in charge of the TTFA after that meeting? Does he see himself at the helm come December?

“I am not answering that yet,” he said. “I want to show the members the respect of talking to them first.”

Wallace said he has no regrets about his seven months of struggle with Fifa, which led to a provisional suspension from the football body but also vindication in the court.

“It has to be said that the law expects the TTFA to do what its statutory duty requires, even in the face of unlawful pressure,” stated Gobin, in her judgment on 13 October. “[…] In the circumstances, the TTFA’s actions of seeking redress before the court was perhaps the only appropriate response, which avoided capitulating to the demands of Fifa and thereby elevating the status of Fifa Statutes above the laws passed by our Parliament.”

Wallace said it was his favourite excerpt from the ruling.

“If that is the only thing that we accomplished, then to me it is a major accomplishment—who wants to move that [Parliamentary protection] after, it is their problem,” he said.

He suggested it was not so much that Fifa did not defend themselves in court as they could not defend their actions.

“Remember Fifa provided affidavits upfront from Veron Mosengo-Omba and I was able to respond to every one, it just did not make sense,” said Wallace. “And the judge cited those affidavits in her judgment and came to the same conclusion. It is not that they were not involved, because they paid to take part in the Court of Appeal hearing, so you can’t be participating in part of the court and not the other part.

“The reason they did not try to defend themselves [on Tuesday] is because they could not defend the indefensible.”

Wallace said he reached out to Fifa on eight occasions for mediation, but was snubbed each time.

“Even a condemned man is given a chance to be heard,” he said.

In the end, Wallace said he is saddened that his legal stance has so divided his countrymen.

“For me, there were so many lessons in this,” he said. “This wasn’t just about football and what happens on the field of play… Our sovereignty was being threatened by a foreign entity; we were right to defend that. It was bigger than just football.

“I have no regrets.”

Wallace said he shared some of the issues involving the local game with the prime minister. Chief among them is a debt estimated at between TT$50 to $80 million, which he described as a ‘stranglehold on the local game’.

“I told the prime minister that regardless of who is running Trinidad and Tobago’s football, that debt is a major problem,” he said. “If normalisation would have meant Fifa paying that off, I would have gladly walked away there and then.

“The prime minister’s response was that taxpayers’ money can’t be used to deal with it and I agree with that—not in this time at least, when people are suffering and losing their jobs and so on.”

The TTFA’s problems will not be solved merely by re-entry to Fifa and, possibly, normalisation. Wallace suggested introspection is needed, rather than noise.

“We need to reset Trinidad and Tobago’s football,” he said. “We cannot continue doing the same things over and over with half-prepared teams. We need to start properly developing our players so they can have a real chance.

“Everybody’s talking about missing out on this and missing out on that but we should be focusing on building up our players, so they can go out there and perform. Instead we have been taking a little bit of money and running into competitions and coming back out early, running in and coming back out again.”

The TTFA entered just one tournament under the Wallace-led administration. The Women’s National Under-20 Team finished as quarterfinalists at the Concacaf 2020 competition under head coach Richard Hood.

It was a significant improvement from a bunch of players who were humiliated at Under-15 level under coach Marlon Charles—they lost 22-0 to USA and 15-0 to Mexico—and failed to even reach the final Caribbean Under-17 qualifying round under Jamaal Shabazz.

However, within weeks of the Women’s Soca Warriors credible showing, the Bureau of the Fifa Council stepped in to remove Wallace. Revelations about a secret contract handed to marketing director Peter Miller and deals with Soca Warriors head coach Terry Fenwick and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan that did not match terms agreed to by the board, weakened Wallace’s moral authority too.

Arguably, Gobin’s judgment offered a touch of redemption to the former Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal, who was voted into office with a largely unblemished record from his time as Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president.

Even with the High Court win under his belt—once it is not snatched away by the Court of Appeal on Monday—Wallace would surely need a CAS miracle to survive at the helm of the TTFA. That is particularly ironic considering his team’s acrimonious departure from the Swiss-based sport arbitration body in May.

At this stage, though, Wallace’s fate still remains in his own hands.

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 suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #188 on: October 23, 2020, 12:52:40 AM »
Football membership wants Wallace to answer questions.
T&T Guardian Reports.


William Wallace, the embattled president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), is being asked to equip himself to answer several questions at Sunday's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which was called to decide on a way forward for local football.

Two of the questions required him to say how a long-standing debt of now $70 million, will be cleared, and how he proposes to pay the salaries of coaches, office staff and other contracted officials, such as Peter Miller, the TTFA's marketing representative?

The sport's general membership intends to pose 19 questions to Wallace, who along with his vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip and Susan Warrick-Joseph, who has now resigned her post, to challenge FIFA's appointment of a Normalisation Committee to replace them on March 17.

FIFA's decision came after a visit here in February that discovered the sport on the brink of insolvency, with little or no plans to revive it. However, the TTFA's decision to challenge FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland before withdrawing the matter and taking it to T&T High Court in Port-of-Spain, which breached FIFA's Statutes.

Despite calls from the general membership, the Board of the TTFA, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Minister of Sports and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe, for Wallace and his team to drop the court action against FIFA and prevent the country from being banned. FIFA, on Republic Day (September 24), suspended the TTFA for violation of its Statutes.

The suspension though came with a condition that the TTFA align its Statutes with that of the FIFA and drop all court matters.

Yesterday, a week after invitations were sent out for an October 25 date for the EGM with the agenda, the membership issued a release with the questions.

Guardian Media Sports questioned three members why the questions were sent out when Wallace had already said he would allow the membership to decide on the way forward for the sport, the members said they did not believe him.

Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards said earlier attempts to make additions to the agenda was denied Wallace, who on Andre Errol Baptiste I95.5FM Programme on Saturday, told him the agenda would be broad so it will facilitate any concerns.

Edwards in his response said: "Because the agenda is so broad the discussion could go anywhere and any time. The reason for an agenda being placed for a meeting is to control the meeting and the direction of it. For example, an AGM has a set amount of agenda items to ensure that it goes a particular way."

He added: "They should have paid a little bit more attention to the agenda and have it more specific but that, having not happened, we saw it fit from the East Zone, to send these questions so at least at the starting of the EGM, these questions will be answered."

The membership is planning to block the TTFA from continuing with its decision to challenge the suspension via CAS. The membership also wants the Injunctive Relief filed in the CAS on September 25 to be dropped as well.

Edwards and company are also set to call for the removal of the Wallace executive and order the return of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad.

The EFA boss also believes an emerging problem of how secret voting can take place at the meeting, saying it is a problem that has to be addressed.

Contacted yesterday by Guardian Media Sports, Wallace said all questions concerning the future of T&T football will be answered on Sunday.

Today, the Court of Appeal is scheduled to determine FIFA's appeal over High Court Judge Carol Gobin's decision to hear a case brought by the United TTFA.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux reserved their judgment on the appeal after hearing submissions from the attorneys representing both parties in a virtual hearing on Monday.

QUESTIONS:

1. How are you going to pay the coaches and technical staff that you hired within the first four months of your term? Most notably the contract of the Head Coach Terry Fenwick who you agreed to pay over twenty thousand US dollars per month?

2. How are you going to pay Peter Miller with whom you signed a contract for US$25,000 per month?

3. How are you going to pay the administrative staff at the TTFA’s offices? Most notably the contract of the General Secretary who you agreed to pay eight thousand US dollars per month?

4. How are you going to pay the TTFA debt of approximately $70 million without FIFA and Government financial support?

5. Is the TTFA going to honour the contracts of Terry Fenwick, Peter Miller and Ramesh Ramdhan even though they were not approved by the TTFA Board of Directors and they were executed by you personally without proper authorization?

6. As per your promise, how are you going to operate and finance the local football leagues in T&T? Particularly, Tier one, Tier two and zonal football?

7. How are you going to operate and finance the women’s football league in T&T?

8. How are you going to repair the public image of the TTFA given the suspension of TT&T from all international football, which has never happened before?

9. How are you going to repair the relationships with FIFA and the Government?

10. Can you explain the path for our senior men’s national team and youth national team to compete in the World Cup and Gold Cup qualifiers and tournaments?

11. Can you explain the path for our referees to referee in international tournaments?

12. How are you going to attract corporate sponsors when T&T are not allowed to compete in international tournaments?

13. How are you going to operate the association when you and the other members of the United TTFA and banned by FIFA permanently?

14. Please explain your contravention of Article 1 item 3 of the TTFA constitution? “Article 1 Name, headquarters, legal form 3 TTFA is a Member of FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU.”

15. Please explain your contravention of Article 15 item b and c of the TTFA constitution? Article 15 states: “Expulsion 1 The General Meeting may expel a Member if: it fails to fulfill its financial obligations towards TTFA; it seriously violates the Statutes, regulations, directives or decisions of FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and TTFA; 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;

16. Please explain why the TTFA membership should retain you as president when you admitted freely in the press that you signed multimillion-dollar contracts in excess of amounts approved by of the Board of Directors. You also admitted to signing contracts that you specifically hid from the TTFA board Of Directors and this is clearly an oversight on your part?

17. Please explain, why you have blatantly ignored the wishes of the members of TTFA as a significant majority of members have communicated informally with you to cease the court action and you have refused to do so.

18. Please explain, why the prime minister and minister of sports have also tried to persuade you and your associates known as the United TTFA to cease your court action and to comply with the requests of Fifa but here too you have ignored the highest authority in Trinidad and Tobago?

19. Please explain why you have breached Article 39.d of the TTFA constitution which states as follows: ‘The president […] is primarily responsible for: d) relations between TTFA and its members, Fifa, Concacaf, Cfu, political bodies and other organisations.’

1. The President represents TTFA legally.

2. He is primarily responsible for:

a) implementing the decisions passed by the General Meeting and the Board of Directors through the General Secretariat;

b) ensuring the effective functioning of the bodies of TTFA in order that they achieve the objectives described in this Constitution;

c) supervising the work of the General Secretariat;

d) relations between TTFA and its Members, FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU, political bodies and other organisations.

RELATED NEWS

Questions for Wallace.
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express).


“Please explain why the TTFA membership should retain you as president, when you admitted freely in the press that you signed multi-million-dollar contracts, in excess of amounts approved by of the Board of Directors.”

This is among questions Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) board member and Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards hopes to put to TTFA president Williams Wallace at Sunday’s virtual TTFA Emergency General Meeting (EGM).

Wallace has kept a promise to allow the TTFA’s 47 delegates to point the future direction of football via an EGM, after winning a legal claim in the TTFA High Court challenging FIFA’s decision to replace his executive in March with a normalisation committee. Wallace has promised to abide by the decision of TTFA delegates.

Justice Carol Gobin’s October 19 decision deemed FIFA’s normalisation committee illegal and re-installed Wallace as TTFA president. However, en route to that decision, FIFA suspended the TTFA as a result of Wallace’s group violating FIFA statutes by taking the matter to local court rather than the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Edwards has made it known, that he favours the lifting of FIFA’s suspension of the TTFA, via the removal of the current TTFA executive and the installation of FIFA’s normalisation committee to run local football. Edwards had also asked that removal of Wallace’s executive be specifically set as an EGM agenda item. This was denied, but the broad nature of the meeting gives Edwards another the chance to still raise the challenge.

Wallace will be called upon to explain why he returned to court to pursue legal action against FIFA, specifically against the wishes of the majority of TTFA delegates and with the TTFA suspended and barred from accessing FIFA funding, Wallace will be called upon to explain how he plans to manage the upwards of $70 million of TTFA debt and the host of pending litigation against the Football Association. Without FIFA funding, Wallace will also be asked to explain how he will cover daily operations and service debts.

“How are you going to pay the coaches and technical staff that you hired within the first four months of your term? Most notably the contract of the head coach Terry Fenwick, who you agreed to pay over twenty thousand US dollars per month?

“How are you going to pay the administrative staff at the TTFA’s offices? “ Edwards asks. “Is the TTFA going to honour the contracts of Terry Fenwick, Peter Miller and Ramesh Ramdhan, even though they were not approved by the TTFA Board of Directors.

“As per your promise, how are you going to operate and finance the local football leagues in Trinidad and Tobago? Particularly, Tier one, Tier two and zonal football? How are you going to operate and finance the women’s football league in Trinidad and Tobago?”

Edwards summises that the failure of Wallace to adequately answer probing question will convey a lack of confidence in his ability to hold the post of TTFA president.

« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 01:09:49 AM by Flex »
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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #189 on: October 23, 2020, 01:11:17 AM »
Chief Justice Archie, Justice Bereaux to rule on TTFA/FIFA issue.
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express).


APPEAL DECISION TIME

The Appeal Court will today make its decision on FIFA’s appeal of Justice Carol Gobin’s October 19 ruling giving the Trinidad and Tobago High Court jurisdiction to hear a claim between the executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and the international governing body for world football.

Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice Nolan Bereaux will be delivering their ruling by 3 p.m. today, after initially hearing the matter on October 19. Should the Appeal Court find in favour of FIFA on the issue of jurisdiction, then Justice Gobin’s ruling will be overturned.

Justice Gobin’s October 13 High Court final ruling determined that FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee was illegal, void and of no effect. Her ruling effectively facilitated the re-installation of president William Wallace and his executive, which FIFA replaced with its own normalisation committee on March 17, 2020.

Representing FIFA in the Appeal Court, senior counsel Christopher Hamel-Smith argued that Justice Gobin’s decision giving the local High Court jurisdiction to hear the matter was wrong. He argued that according to the TTFA’s own constitution, disputes of the nature between the TTFA and FIFA should be taken to the Lausanne, Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“CAS has exclusive jurisdiction. The TTFA cannot ignore the terms of its own constitution,” Hamel-Smith said.

“This does not mean that FIFA is above the law,” he said, making reference to last Tuesday’s criticism of FIFA by Justice Gobin.

Hamel-Smith pointed out that on its own, the TTFA could ­remove that restriction from its constitution, but this would mean that the TTFA would be taking a position that it no longer wished to operate under the FIFA Constitution.

Wallace’s attorney, Dr Emir Crowne, blamed FIFA’s action for forcing the matter to the local court.

Crowne submitted that the main reason why the TTFA pulled out of arbitration proceedings at the CAS in May and filed action at the High Court was because FIFA indicated it would not be paying its half of the arbitration fees.

Crowne said FIFA “has devised a scheme” where, by way of its statute, it is calling on its membership to go to the CAS for dispute resolution when the need arises, but is, at the same time, refusing to pay its part of the arbitration fees, at least in this instance. By doing so, Crowne said the TTFA was being denied access to justice since it is currently facing financial difficulties and FIFA knows this all too well.

“They are saying ‘you must go to CAS but we won’t pay our share of the arbitration cost’ especially in a case where a federation is mismanaging its funds,” said Crowne.

Crowne said he did not see an issue with the impasse being heard and resolved at the CAS if FIFA was willing to pay its part of the cost.

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #190 on: October 23, 2020, 10:11:52 AM »
Wallace willing to take FIFA case to Privy Council.
By Narissa Fraser (T&T Newsday).


TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace is not ruling out the possibility of taking his ongoing battle against world football body FIFA all the way to the Privy Council if he has to.

Wallace told Newsday on Thursday the idea of taking the case to the London courts – TT’s highest appellate court – if the Court of Appeal’s decision is not in his favour, is something he “cannot disagree with.”

It is now nearly eight months since Wallace began his legal battle against FIFA after it removed his administration and appointed a normalisation committee to run the affairs of local football, on March 17.

FIFA insisted the move was not victimisation and that the decision was made because of “a massive debt” and financial woes.

It also refused to acknowledge TT’s High Court as a legitimate option for the hearing after Wallace appealed. It said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland is the only court it recognises for such disputes.

Initially, Wallace and his attorneys – Dr Emir Crowne and Matthew Gayle – appealed to the CAS but withdrew, moving to TT’s High Court, as they believed they would not get a “fair hearing” from the Swiss court.

Wallace and his team persisted, but this led to the association’s suspension on September 24. They have since appealed this decision at the CAS.

Last Tuesday, Justice Carol Gobin ruled that FIFA’s removal of the TTFA executive and implementation of the committee, after the executive had been in office for just four months, was illegal.

While some described this victory as an “own goal,” and it led to jeers on social media from the Prime Minister, Wallace told Newsday he still believed it was a “real win.

“It was a ruling based on the facts presented. I am extremely happy and satisfied with it. It indicated every single thing we have been trying to say, and it was always about getting the chance to be heard.

“It was also saying it was injustice, based on the facts and all those things. That for me is enough; that in itself is a win. And in addition to that, I think we would have planted some seeds within the football fraternity both locally and internationally.”

On Monday, at the Court of Appeal hearing, Crowne told Chief Justice Ivor Archie the team would be willing to return to the CAS if FIFA pays its half of the cost – which it had previously refused to. The total fee is 40,000 Swiss francs which is approximately TT$299,000.

Archie posed the question, saying, “I am assuming the TTFA wants to retain its relationship with FIFA.”

But Wallace later told online news blog Wired868 he was not willing to return to CAS and “start all over,” and that he had come to the end of his battle against FIFA. He did not speak with any other local media on the matter.

Asked if he had contacted any of the attorneys before speaking to Wired868, he said no.

He told Newsday, “The information in that article is accurate. If an option is presented to go back to CAS with a substantive matter or the initial matter, that is not something I am willing to do.”

Crowne told the Appeal Court even if FIFA agreed to pay half the costs of appealing to CAS, there was nothing to appeal, since the normalisation committee ceased to function when FIFA suspended TT from international football.

He said FIFA would have to lift the suspension, which could possibly lead to a reinstatement of the normalisation committee, and then they would have something to argue before the CAS.

FIFA’s attorney, Christopher Hamel-Smith, said he knew his client would agree to paying half the costs since he suggested it to them, but he could not say what its position would be on lifting the suspension.

On Sunday, the TTFA will host its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to continue charting a way forward. The members of the TTFA will decide whether it will drop the appeal to CAS on its suspension.

FIFA has previously indicated the temporary suspension may be lifted once the membership complies with its demands.

And Concacaf gave the TTFA until December 18 to determine whether it will be able to participate in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. If the suspension is not lifted by 5 pm on that day, TT will be replaced by Antigua and Barbuda.

Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux are expected to give a ruling on Friday at 3 pm. If this does not go in favour of Wallace, which will render Gobin’s ruling null and void, Wallace said it may not necessarily be the end.

“I have been getting feedback from not just the Caribbean but international feedback that this is something that should be settled at the Privy Council. I cannot disagree with that point – they are making a statement I cannot disagree with.”

He said one local businessman offered to pay the required legal fees in full if he decides to take that route.

But he added, “As to whether we are going with it, that is another story…”

If he loses in the end, what does his future in T&T football look like?

Well, he said, “No word on that yet.”

Asked about the possibility of the case being taken to the Privy Council, Crowne told Newsday, “Depending on the Court of Appeal’s ruling, and subject to any instructions we may receive from our client, the decision may well be appealed to the Privy Council, especially given the global significance of the issues at play.”

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #191 on: October 23, 2020, 02:34:27 PM »
The unanimity of two Justices pronouncing on the matter - in the absence of a third Justice is - less than compelling. London calling.

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #192 on: October 23, 2020, 04:48:55 PM »
The majority of the questions that will posed to WW has one commonality\, funding.  FIFA already says it's going to withhold funding so where is the money going to come from to address all these concerns?  Who will sponsor a football team that has been ostracized by the governing board of football?  I applaud anybody who stands for principle, but when the outcome is detrimental to the current and future of our football, it is time to rethink, and live to fight another day.  2006 feels like a lifetime ago, sadly.

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FIFA wins appeal
« Reply #193 on: October 23, 2020, 04:50:30 PM »
FIFA wins appeal
By Derek Achong (T&T Guardian)


FIFA has been given the green light to retake control of the the T&T Football Association (TTFA).

Delivering a judgement during a virtual hearing, yesterday afternoon, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled that the lawsuit, brought by embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA executive team, contravened the TTFA's constitution.

The decision means that FIFA is free to reintroduce the normalisation committee which they replaced Wallace and his team with in March.

With such a move, FIFA may also chose to lift the TTFA's indefinite suspension, which it applied after Wallace and his team failed to withdraw the lawsuit by its extended ultimatum in September.

FIFA has previously indicated that the lifting of the suspension was contingent on the withdrawal of the lawsuit and modification of the TTFA's legislation and Constitution to prevent similar legal action in the future, however, based on the Appeal Court's findings the latter may be unnecessary.

Wallace and his team may still have a life line if they desire to pursue the case to its fullest as they can still appeal the Court of Appeal's ruling to the Privy Council.

They are also free to pursue a case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Bereaux, who wrote the substantive judgement, noted that the Constitution prescribes that all disputes between the TTFA and FIFA should be dealt with by the CAS.

"The fact that such a provision is enshrined in the TTFA's Constitution means that the TTFA and its executive are bound to comply. The result is that the filing of these proceedings was a breach of the TTFA's Constitution," Bereaux said.

He also said that High Court Judge Carol Gobin, who heard the case despite FIFA's jurisdictional protest and found in Wallace and his team's favour, was wrong to rule that the FIFA's Statutes, which deal with the appointment of normalisation committees to member federations, were inconsistent with the Act of Parliament, which incorporated the TTFA.

Bereaux said the legislation gave the TTFA the power to adopt FIFA's laws and policies in its Constitution.

"Having made its choice and having bound itself by its own Constitution to comply, it cannot now act outside of its provisions," Bereaux said, as he ruled that the CAS was the more appropriate forum as it is comprised of sporting experts.

Bureaux also stated that Gobin should have stayed the case, as requested by FIFA, and referred it to arbitration.

While Archie merely gave his nod to Bereaux's written judgement, he decided to weigh in on Gobin's handling of the case.

"It was neither prudent case management nor an economical deployment of judicial time and resources to attempt to finally determine the substantive issues and to deliver a judgement less than a week before the scheduled hearing of the interlocutory appeal...Zeal is commendable but it must not obscure the need for caution," Archie said.

In the judgement, the Appeal Court also ruled that the litigation contravened the Judiciary's Civil Proceedings Rules as it was served on FIFA via email, when Swiss law does not permit such a method for service of a lawsuit.

Despite the ruling, Bereaux said that Wallace did have the authority of the bring the case as all that was required was the approval of the board.

In addition to declaring Gobin's judgement null and void, the Appeal Court also ordered Wallace and his team to pay FIFA's legal costs for defending the lawsuit.

Wallace and his colleagues were represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul, and Jason Jones, while Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker, and Cherie Gopie appeared for FIFA.

« Last Edit: October 24, 2020, 01:49:32 AM by Flex »
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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #194 on: October 23, 2020, 09:59:58 PM »
The majority of the questions that will posed to WW has one commonality\, funding.  FIFA already says it's going to withhold funding so where is the money going to come from to address all these concerns?  Who will sponsor a football team that has been ostracized by the governing board of football?  I applaud anybody who stands for principle, but when the outcome is detrimental to the current and future of our football, it is time to rethink, and live to fight another day.  2006 feels like a lifetime ago, sadly.
The majority of the questions that will posed to WW has one commonality\, funding.  FIFA already says it's going to withhold funding so where is the money going to come from to address all these concerns?  Who will sponsor a football team that has been ostracized by the governing board of football?  I applaud anybody who stands for principle, but when the outcome is detrimental to the current and future of our football, it is time to rethink, and live to fight another day.  2006 feels like a lifetime ago, sadly.
What funding ? And for what ? Certainly not for players, they weren't paid, not for coaches or tech directors, whose contracts were not honoured, not for staff who regular work months with payment. Not For international competitions, presently suspended. So how much funding the administrators require for their personal projects to still end up in debt ? Anyway, back to to the Circle of ever Dependence that we may drink from the fountain of stagnation and regression as those around us forge ahead. It's what we have grown used to. I guess there is some measure of comfort in the devils that we know.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2020, 10:02:33 PM by maxg »

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #195 on: October 23, 2020, 11:47:44 PM »
so there we go again, more flip flopping from william wallace again after he vowed that whatever the outcome he's going to accept the judges ruling and allow the membership to decide going forward, now he's changed his tune again by thinking of going to the privy council. well well well, this man is certainly bloody clueless and by now the whole football fraternity knows it.

and for all who's watching, i hope you know that this is a clear sign of a power hungry bloke. if this man cared anything for trinbago football he would have walked away the first time he held the meeting to decide on the way forward in september, instead he reopened the case and made a mess of things.

i don't know who was advising him but he got some really foolish advise and fifa had him all the way through without him even knowing it. he should have paid the court fees and went the cas and took his chances, and if he had loss the case then at least he stood a good chance of going back for reelection,

but instead he tossed around until he tossed himself into a corner following stupid advice, good going mate, now make it that no body in TT football would ever want to hear your name again. go back on your word and go to the privy council you nitwit. remember a man's word is all he's got. this guy is full of shit. you all could support bullshit if you want, not me they have made a mess of this process.

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #196 on: October 24, 2020, 01:49:08 AM »
TTFA membership holds key to football future.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).


FIFA's Normalisation Committee will return as the managers of local football.

This after the Court of Appeal judges, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux on Friday overturned the ruling by High Court Judge Carol Gobin last Tuesday, thereby throwing the future of United T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip into limbo.

The lawsuit, brought by embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA executive team, which also included vice president Susan Joseph-Warrick before she resigned the post on September 25, contravened the TTFA's Constitution, which prescribes that all disputes between the TTFA and FIFA should be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Appellate judges concluded.

The Appeal Court has also ordered the cash-strapped TTFA to pay the legal cost of FIFA also.

The ruling has also put in doubt Sunday's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) called to decide on the future of the sport in T&T, following a suspension by the FIFA and a demand by the sport's world governing body to get the TTFA Statutes in line with theirs if the suspension is to be lifted.

The decision yesterday stems from a move by the FIFA on March 17 to appoint a Normalisation Committee to replace the TTFA on the basis that local football face a possibility of becoming insolvent, with no means of clearing huge debt that crippled the TTFA under Wallace and his team.

TTFA challenged the decision, by first going to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland in May. They then withdrew the matter and filed it in the T&T High Court in Port-of Spain, a decision that violated FIFA's Statutes.

Wallace, who, in a newspaper report on Friday, said he was not ruling out considering going to the Privy Council, told Guardian Media Sports soon after that the court has ruled and they will respect the ruling of the court. However, quizzed on whether he was any closer to deciding if an appeal will be filed, he said: "This is final for me. This is final for me."

The embattled football association president who guided the Secondary Schools Football League to its highest point of sponsorships, development and marketability, said based on the ruling he was unsure if Sunday's crucial meeting will come off, noting that he will have to seek legal advice before offering a response to that.

Coincidentally, one of Wallace and the TTFA's Attorneys, Matthew Gayle said he will wait to see if his client wants to pursue anything further.

"I will have to look at the ruling to see what our next position will be and what the TTFA wants to do. I will have to reach out to the TTFA. It appears to be a binary ruling but it can be multi-dimensional," Gayle said.

Wallace, whose consideration of an appeal was hinted by members of the international football fraternity, said he took comfort that their concerns were heard under Justice Gobin.

"As far as I am concerned, Justice Gobin's ruling will always be very important to me, whether it was struck out based on the matters heard before, or based on jurisdiction, it was heard, fate allowed that, and there was enough in that for me. I am happy with that so now we move on," said Wallace.

Known constitutional expert Osmond Downer and Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards gave different accounts on why tomorrow's meeting can go on as planned.

According to Downer, when a court rules it gives the other party time to appeal.

"This, I have to find out more about, if FIFA's Attorneys intend to lodge an appeal, or if in the ruling a timeframe was given for an appeal. During this timeframe, the TTFA members will still be considered the legal officers, which means Sunday's crucial EGM will be held."

Downer, one of the men who drafted the Constitution of the TTFA, believes tomorrow's meeting has crucial significance in deciding whether any court matter against FIFA will be dropped.

The United TTFA, which was recently reduced by three members also following the resignations of the group's key founder Keith Look Loy, who held the position of Chairman of the Technical Committee and former Northern Football Association president Anthony Harford, currently has two matters against FIFA in the CAS.

One, a challenge against FIFA's suspension on September 24 and the other an Injunctive Relief which was filed to ensure the country took part in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

TTFA, on September 25, was given an ultimatum by CONCACAF to settle the court matter with the FIFA by December 18 or be left out of the Gold Cup. As it is, however, the country was allowed to be part of the Gold Cup draw on September 28, which saw it draw Montserrat in the preliminary round of the tournament next year.

Edwards, the author of 19 questions to be posed to Wallace at tomorrow's EGM, said the meeting was constitutionally called and therefore will go on as planned.

"It is a meeting of the general membership, a body of people that will exist whether the normalisation committee is here or not. It was called by the Board of the TTFA before the ruling, so it is legitimate," said the EFA boss, adding that it is important that Wallace and the TTFA are blocked from going to the Privy Council and all court matters that currently exist against FIFA are dropped.

RELATED NEWS

Appeal Court overturns judge's TTFA ruling.
By Derek Achong (T&T Guardian).


FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been given the green light to retake control of the T&T Football Association (TTFA).

Delivering a judgement during a virtual hearing yesterday, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled that the lawsuit brought by embattled former president William Wallace and his United TTFA team had contravened the TTFA’s constitution.

The decision means that FIFA is free to reintroduce the Normalisation Committee which they replaced Wallace’s team with in March.

With such a move, FIFA may also choose to lift the TTFA’s indefinite suspension, which it applied after Wallace and his team failed to withdraw the lawsuit by its extended ultimatum in September.

FIFA had previously indicated that the lifting of the suspension was contingent on the withdrawal of the lawsuit and modification of the TTFA’s legislation and constitution to prevent similar legal action in the future. However, based on the Appeal Court’s findings the latter may now be unnecessary.

Wallace and his team may still have a lifeline if they desire to pursue the case to its fullest, as they can still appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling to the Privy Council. They are also free to pursue a case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

However, Wallace told Guardian Media yesterday that he was throwing in the towel on the matter.

“The court has ruled and we respect the ruling of our courts. As I said before, this is final for me. This is final for me. I am not going beyond this,” Wallace said moments after the ruling.

“I said we would have stated our case and as far as I am concerned, Justice Gobin’s decision would always be very important to me, whether it was struck out based on the application of the law or jurisdiction.

“It was heard. Fate allowed that and there was enough in that decision for me. So now we move on.”

Justice Bereaux, who wrote the substantive judgement yesterday, noted that the TTFA constitution prescribes that all disputes between itself and FIFA should be dealt with by CAS.

“The fact that such a provision is enshrined in the TTFA’s constitution means that the TTFA and its executive are bound to comply. The result is that the filing of these proceedings was a breach of the TTFA’s constitution,” Bereaux said.

He also said that High Court Judge Carol Gobin, who heard the case despite FIFA’s jurisdictional protest and found in Wallace’s team’s favour, was wrong to rule that FIFA’s statutes, which deal with the appointment of normalisation committees to member federations, were inconsistent with the Act of Parliament which incorporated the TTFA. Bereaux said the legislation gave the TTFA the power to adopt FIFA’s laws and policies in its constitution.

“Having made its choice and having bound itself by its own constitution to comply, it cannot now act outside of its provisions,” Bereaux said, as he ruled that the CAS was the more appropriate forum as it is comprised of sporting experts.

Bereaux also stated that Gobin should have stayed the case as requested by FIFA and referred it to arbitration.

While Archie merely gave his nod to Bereaux’s written judgement, he decided to weigh in on Gobin’s handling of the case.

“It was neither prudent case management nor an economical deployment of judicial time and resources to attempt to finally determine the substantive issues and to deliver a judgement less than a week before the scheduled hearing of the interlocutory appeal...Zeal is commendable but it must not obscure the need for caution,” Archie said.

In the judgement, the Appeal Court also ruled that the litigation contravened the Judiciary’s Civil Proceedings Rules, as it was served on FIFA via email when Swiss law does not permit such a method for service of a lawsuit.

Despite the ruling, Bereaux said Wallace did have the authority of the bring the case as all that was required was the approval of the board.

In addition to declaring Gobin’s judgement null and void, the Appeal Court also ordered Wallace and his team to pay FIFA’s legal costs for defending the lawsuit.

Wallace and his colleagues were represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Crystal Paul and Jason Jones, while Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie appeared for FIFA.

ABOUT THE CASE

William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips and Susan Joseph-Warrick pursued legal action after they were removed in March and replaced with a committee comprising of businessman Robert Hadad, attorney Judy Daniels and retired banker Nigel Romano.

Wallace’s team initially brought proceedings against FIFA in the CAS but were forced to withdraw as they could not pay the 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$276,000) in associated costs. Their position was partly due to FIFA’s policy to not pay its share of fees and CAS’s rules which require the other party to pay the full costs when the other fails in its obligations.

After the case was filed, FIFA applied for it to be struck out as it claimed the TTFA, by virtue of its membership with FIFA, agreed to forgo all legal action in local courts in favour of proceedings before the CAS.

The application was initially blanked by Gobin, who ruled the local courts were the appropriate forum to resolve the dispute.

With the appeal against her ruling still pending, Gobin set the date for the trial and gave FIFA an extension to file its defence. FIFA failed to meet the deadline, as it maintained the position that it did not accept the jurisdiction of the local court.

Wallace’s team also obtained an injunction against the Normalisation Committee after it attempted to facilitate an extraordinary meeting among members to vote to withdraw the case. The injunction was not opposed by FIFA and was granted.

Wallace’s team attempted to withdraw the case on FIFA’s extended ultimatum of September 23 but filed the application to withdraw past the deadline.

After FIFA’s suspension the following day, Wallace’s team filed another application withdrawing the withdrawal application, in which he admitted he was grudgingly discontinuing the case based on a majority vote during an emergency meeting between his team and stakeholders.

The legal manoeuvre coincided with an announcement from second vice-president Joseph-Warrick that she was resigning from her post.

The United TTFA also approached the CAS for a temporary stay of this country’s suspension to allow its participation in Concacaf’s 2021 Gold Cup draw on September 28. The hearing of the injunction application was deferred after Concacaf agreed to conditionally keep T&T’s place in the draw.

If the suspension is not lifted by either FIFA or CAS by 5 pm on December 18, T&T will be replaced by Antigua and Barbuda as the next highest-ranked team based on performances during the 2019 Concacaf Nations League.

In her judgement last week, Gobin ruled that FIFA’s statutes which prescribe the appointment of committees to member federation was too broad to be considered lawful. She also said the executive was not given an opportunity to respond to FIFA’s decision before they were replaced.

Appeal Court quashes TTFA's court victory.
By Jada Loutoo (T&T Newsday).


THE TT Football Association’s complaint about the imposition of a normalising committee by world governing body FIFA should have gone to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In a decision delivered just after 3 pm on Friday, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux overturned two rulings of the TT High Court, delivered in August and October, on the local court’s jurisdiction to hear the TTFA’s complaint and its challenge of the imposition of the normalisation committee in March.

Both appellate court judges agreed that the filing of proceedings in the local courts by TTFA’s president William Wallace and his executive was a breach of the local football body’s Constitution which provides that any dispute against a decision by FIFA must be heard by the CAS.

As a result of their decision, the TTFA’s early victory delivered by Justice Carol Gobin, which some described as an own-goal, was short-lived as her decisions and declarations were set aside and quashed.

Gobin had ruled that the removal of Wallace and his executive was illegal and that the appointment of the normalisation committee “to interfere in the affairs of the TTFA” was also of no effect since the FIFA statute which allowed the appointment was inconsistent with the provisions of the TTFA Act of 1982.

“That trial proceeded ex parte. FIFA took no part in it. But the judge’s decision remains valid and subsisting and is binding on FIFA, at least in Trinidad and Tobago, and must be set aside.

“TTFA by proceeding with the trial while this appeal was pending must bear the costs of what is now a wasted trial,” the judges ruled as they ordered the TTFA to pay FIFA’s legal costs.

Gobin was also faulted for refusing to stay the proceedings before her so that the matter could be resolved at the CAS.

“We are concerned here with the exercise of a judicial discretion,” the judges held.

The judges also ruled that the purported service by e-mail of the TTFA’s legal claim to FIFA was against both Swiss law and the local civil proceeding rules.

Both judges gave a unified decision, but each had something to say on the case.

Archie spoke of the managing of the case by the judge. “As any experienced practitioner will know, service of the originating process is an arcane area of procedural law that is littered with pitfalls. Many a claim has floundered at the first hurdle,” he said, adding that the court had no choice but to allow for the appeal for this and other reasons. He said it would be a “recipe for chaos” for a court to invest a process outside the court rules.

Bereaux focused on the arguments advanced by FIFA. “It is a matter of public notoriety that TTFA has been in straitened circumstances for quite some time,” he noted, acknowledging that the TTFA said it was in the process of coming to terms with the mess they inherited and were formulating a plan to address its parlous financial state.’

He said the terms and conditions of membership for the 211 affiliated associations, which FIFA supported financially and logistically, were set out in the world governing body’s statutes.

FIFA’s contribution is 60 per cent of TTFA’s total revenue. Bereaux pointed out that as a condition to its FIFA membership, the TTFA undertook in its constitution to be bound by its statutes, which includes the mandatory recognition of the CAS and the appointment of the committee.

In March, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run the affairs of local football, removing Wallace and his administration.

FIFA said the move was because of “massive debt” and financial woes plaguing the local football body.

It resisted the option of the TTFA’s complaint heard in the TT High Court, insisting that the CAS was the only court it recognised in keeping with its statutes.

Wallace and his executive initially filed an appeal before the CAS but withdrew, saying they did not think they would get a fair hearing from the Swiss court because it condoned FIFA’s refusal to pay half the costs of the challenge.

Wallace and the others had already paid the relevant fees – 1,000 Swiss francs or TT$7,000 – for the appeal in which they say the appointment of the normalisation committee was “exclusively disciplinary in nature” since it had the effect of removing them from their duly elected offices.

After failing to meet a deadline to withdraw its legal challenge in the local courts, T&T was suspended from international football by FIFA. The TTFA has since appealed this decision at the CAS.

However, even if FIFA agreed to pay half the costs of appealing to CAS, there is nothing to appeal since the normalisation committee ceased to function when FIFA suspended T&T from international football. FIFA would have to lift the suspension which could lead to the reinstatement of the normalisation committee for the TTFA to have something to argue at the Swiss court.

At the trial and before the appeal court, the TTFA has argued that the world body for football was not above the laws of T&T since the TTFA was a body incorporated by an act of Parliament.

In her ruling last Tuesday, Gobin ruled that FIFA’s removal of the TTFA executive and implementation of the committee, after it had only been in office for four months, was illegal.

In his reasons, Bereaux held that section 67 of the TTFA’s Constitution was unambiguous that any appeal of a decision of FIFA is heard by the CAS.

“The filing of these proceedings was, therefore, ultra vires Article 67, null, void and of no effect and must be struck out,” he held.

In looking at the matter afresh, the judges found that FIFA had met the threshold required to trigger the court’s discretion under the Arbitration Act and was satisfied “that there was no reason why the matter should not have been referred to arbitration” when FIFA “was ready, willing and able to conduct the arbitration.”

He said the arbitration clause was the typical garden variety one in which parties agree to forego the civil jurisdiction of the High Court for a tribunal with expertise.

Bereaux admitted that he did entertain some concern about the CAS’s impartiality and what appeared to be a cozy relationship with FIFA but said these were not sufficient reasons why the dispute should not go to arbitration.

“CAS’ reaction to FIFA’s request to forego its share of upfront costs appeared to be reflexive with no apparent independent consideration being given to it.”

On whether Wallace had the authority to file the proceedings, Bereaux said there was not enough evidence to show he did not.

On Thursday, Wallace told Newsday he was not ruling out taking the challenge to the Privy Council.

The TTFA was represented by attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones, and Crystal Paul while FIFA was represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker, and Cherrie Gopie.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE TT Football Association’s complaint about the imposition of a normalising committee by the world governing body FIFA should have gone to arbitration before the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport.

In a decision delivered just after 3 pm on Friday, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux both agreed that the filing of proceedings in the local courts by TTFA’s president, William Wallace, and his executive, was a breach of the local football body’s Constitution which provides that any dispute against a decision by FIFA must be heard by the CAS.

As a result of their decision, the decisions of Justice Carol Gobin in August and October were set aside.

Gobin was also faulted for refusing to stay the proceedings before her so that the matter could be resolved at the CAS.

“There was no reason it should not have proceeded to arbitration,” Archie said of TTFA’s dispute.

The judges also ruled that the purported service by e-mail of the TTFA’s legal claim to FIFA was against both Swiss law and the local civil proceeding rules.

In March, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run the affairs of local football, removing Wallace and his administration.

FIFA said the move was because of “massive debt” and a "real risk of insolvency and illiquidity" facing the local football body.

The world governing body resisted the option of the TTFA’s complaint being heard in the High Court, insisting that the CAS was the only court it recognised in keeping with its statutes.

Wallace and his executive initially filed an appeal before the CAS but withdrew, saying they did not think they would get a fair hearing from the Swiss court.

After failing to meet a deadline to withdraw its legal challenge in the local courts, TT was suspended from international football by FIFA on September 24. The TTFA has since appealed this decision at the CAS.

In her ruling last Tuesday, Gobin ruled that FIFA’s removal of the TTFA executive and implementation of the committee, after it had only been in office for four months, was illegal.

On Thursday, Wallace told Newsday he was not ruling out taking the challenge to the Privy Council.

The TTFA was represented by attorneys Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle Jason Jones and Crystal Paul while FIFA was represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith,SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherrie Gopie.

« Last Edit: October 24, 2020, 01:53:02 AM by Flex »
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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #197 on: October 24, 2020, 01:54:02 AM »
TTFA Sunday GM in doubt.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).


THE validity of Sunday’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) involving the TT Football Association (TTFA) membership is now in question as it is unclear who is in charge of local football.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the imposition of a normalisation committee by FIFA should have gone to arbitration before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux both agreed that the filing of proceedings in the local courts by TTFA’s president, William Wallace, and his executive, was a breach of the local football body’s Constitution which provides that any dispute against a decision by FIFA must be heard by the CAS.

As a result of their decision, the decisions of Justice Carol Gobin in August and last week were set aside. In her ruling last Tuesday in the High Court, Gobin ruled that FIFA’s removal of the TTFA executive and implementation of the normalisation committee, after it had only been in office for four months, was illegal.

The normalisation committee was appointed in March by FIFA because of TTFA’s massive debt. On Friday, the TTFA was also ordered to pay the legal fees of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

In an interview with Newsday following Friday’s ruling, Wallace responded to the order that TTFA must pay the legal fees. “I respect the decision of our courts.” Discussing the amount that TTFA will have to pay, Wallace said, “That has not been quantified. I don’t know.” Wallace said the membership will decide on the future of local football after Friday’s ruling. Discussing the TTFA EGM scheduled for Sunday at 9 am, Wallace said that may now be out of his hands.

“That also at this point in time I am not sure of. I need to have that conversation with the legal team…from my point of view I think that any meeting would have to be called now will have to be called by the normalisation committee.”

TTFA board member and former national defender Brent Sancho said he is also of the understanding that the normalisation committee is in charge again.

Sancho, who believes members may still attend Sunday’s EGM, said Wallace needs to make it clear who is going to pay the legal costs.

Sancho said the validity of Sunday’s meeting “comes under severe questioning.” He added, “I highly suspect that this meeting from a legal point of view and the persons that called it is now deemed illegal. I could only suspect that.”

Chairman of the normalisation committee Robert Hadad, asked for a comment on the latest ruling, said, “No comment yet.”

Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Shamfa Cudjoe said she was not “too surprised” by the ruling as TTFA is part of FIFA and certain statutes must be followed.

RELATED NEWS

Appeal Court quashes Justice Gobin’s ruling in TTFA/FIFA dispute.
By Rickie Ramdass (T&T Express).


ROUND THREE?

THE aggregate score between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and world football’s governing body FIFA now stands at 1-1.

As of yesterday evening, FIFA was back on level terms with the TTFA after the Appeal Court ruled in its favour in a legal challenge mounted against a previous High Court decision in which the TTFA had at first emerged victorious.

With the latest ruling, FIFA now has the all-clear to retake control of the cash-strapped TTFA and reintroduce a normalisation committee after Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux quashed a preliminary ruling handed down by Justice Carol Gobin.

But the Appeal Court ruling is not final unless the TTFA decides it will not be pursuing the issue further to the Privy Council in London, England. If on the other hand it decides to take the proceedings to this country’s final Court of Appeal, then the British Law Lords will have the final say in the dispute.

The issue that was in contention was the ruling of Justice Gobin who held on August 13, that the local courts had the jurisdiction to hear the challenge mounted by embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA executive.

A decision had been made by FIFA on March 17 to replace the executive on with a normalisation committee headed by businessman Robert Hadad due to the executive’s mismanagement of funds and consequently finding itself to be millions of dollars in debt.

On the day of her preliminary ruling, Justice Gobin denied an application by FIFA to have the proceedings struck out. She also refused another application to stay the proceedings pending the hearing of FIFA’s appeal against her decision.

FIFA argued that, the only place such a dispute could have been heard was at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland. But Justice Gobin disagreed.

In her final ruling delivered on the night of October 13, Justice Gobin found that the replacement of the executive with the normalisation committee was made in bad faith and for an improper and illegal motive. Even though the latter ruling was not appealed, it automatically fell by the wayside after Justices Archie and Bereaux found that the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter in the first place.

During a virtual hearing yesterday, the Chief Justice summarised the 23-page judgment written by Justice Bereaux. He said they both agreed that Wallace and United TTFA acted in contravention of the TTFA’s Constitution by which it is bound by bringing the proceedings in the local court.

“The filing of these proceedings was a breach of Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution by which the TTFA is bound. We are of the view that Article 67 is unambiguous and any appeal against a final and binding finding passed by FIFA must be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” said Archie.

Therefore, the Chief Justice said the filing of the proceedings was null, void and of no effect and must be struck out. The judges also held that Justice Gobin was plainly wrong in refusing to stay the proceedings in favour of arbitration before the CAS.

“We find that FIFA has met the threshold requirements to trigger the court’s discretion under section 7 of the Arbitration Act. It therefore satisfied that there was no reason why the matter should not have been referred to arbitration and that FIFA was ready, willing and able to conduct the arbitration,” he stated.

Additionally, Archie and Bereaux agreed that the service of the proceedings by the TTFA on FIFA by way of e-mail was a breach of the laws of Switzerland and that it was also a breach of Part 7.8(2) of the Civil Proceedings Rules (CPR).

“Due regard and respect must be paid, as a matter comity, for the laws of other nations. A court is committed to uphold the rule of law and cannot give effect or be seen to give effect, to a form of service of process which is unlawful under the law of another country in which the proceedings have been served.

“If the proceedings are to have effect in Trinidad and Tobago, they must not be tainted by illegality, especially an illegality in the country of one of the parties to the dispute who will be expected to observe any order which the Trinidad and Tobago court makes,” Archie said.

If losing the legal claim was not enough, the TTFA was also ordered to pay the legal cost incurred by FIFA in bringing the application at the High Court as well as the cost of the appeal.

TTFA was represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul, while Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie appeared on behalf of FIFA.

« Last Edit: October 24, 2020, 01:55:41 AM by Flex »
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Re: Wallace’s last stand Move afoot to remove TTFA president, executive
« Reply #198 on: October 25, 2020, 03:24:00 AM »
Wallace’s last stand Move afoot to remove TTFA president, executive
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


WILLIAM WALLACE may yet pay the ultimate price for not complying with the wishes of Trinidad and Tobago Football Association delegates when he decided upon continuing with a Trinidad and Tobago High Court challenge against FIFA, the international governing body for world football.

Yesterday, TTFA Board Member and Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards wrote an official letter to Wallace, demanding that the agenda of an October 25 Emergency General Meeting (EGM) also include removal of Wallace’s administration and installation of FIFA’s normalisation committee as administrators of local football.

“In relation to the Extraordinary General Meeting of TTFA scheduled for 9:00 AM on Sunday 25th October 2020 we would like to add the following item to the agenda: “The removal of the current TTFA executive which includes the president (Wallace), vice-presidents and other Board Members and the installation of the normalisation committee as appointed by FIFA to be the new Executive of TTFA,” Edwards wrote.

Speaking to the Trinidad Express yesterday, Wallace seemed resigned to let the membership determine what course they would take. He said that while he remains in office he will keep to his promise to hold the upcoming EGM. The TTFA boss took solace in the fact that his defiant battle against FIFA was a “principled stand;” that the High Court ruled in his favour; and that FIFA’s action towards his four-month-old executive was exposed as being high-handed.

“The judge also made the point about us standing up and not capitulating to FIFA’s statutes which would have basically given their statutes precedence over our act of Parliament. And for me, those things are important, and the people that opposed that, we will see from here,” Wallace said.

Wallace was reinstalled as TTFA president when Justice Carol Gobin ruled on October 13 that FIFA’s replacement of his executive on March 18 by its own normalisation committee—headed by local businessman Robert Hadad—was null and void.

His decision to take the issue to the High Court, contravened FIFA’s statutes which list suspension or expulsion as a consequence of such actions. His United TTFA executive had bowed to pressure from the majority of its membership and initially agreed to withdraw the case but missed filing the application by a September 23 deadline. A day later, FIFA suspended the TTFA and in a strange twist, United TTFA revived the case before the T&T court.

“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. 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 Trinidad and Tobago,” stated Edwards.

He added that Wallace and United TTFA had “perpetuated the expulsion of the TTFA from FIFA through the violations of FIFA statutes” and as such, he should be removed for failing to uphold the TTFA’s constitution, adding that TTFA members had no other choice.

“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.”

What kind of fantasy land are you in? The NC can't become the new executive.

1. What I contended above seems now to be better understood in the context of editorial discourse and public feedback that has been responsive to the Court of Appeal ruling.

The assertion holds true even if FIFA subsequently names the same individuals to a Normalization Committee. However, it is under no obligation to return a NC as previously constituted.

Where the NC is regarded as having been deconstituted, at best Robert Hadad is a FIFA liaison in Trinidad and Tobago with respect to matters TTFA. He is not properly the Chairman of a non-existing body - although in FIFA's private construction he may be the Chair of an NC in-waiting.

2. FIFA directorate's email communications may reflect that Hadad and Daniel and Romano remain as liaisons in private communication despite the import of FIFA's October 6 public declarations. However, even so, in the interim Hadad would be the liaison that has been vested to act in any semblance of a public capacity.

3. Anyone who may be preoccupied with the issue of what disbanded the Normalization Committee should look no further than the cessation of operational and management of the TTFA decree of the entity that originally generated and announced the NC's activation.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2020, 03:48:01 AM by asylumseeker »

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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #199 on: October 25, 2020, 07:29:47 AM »
i so want this bullshit to be over, it's like a never ending nightmare. i hope today they resolve this bloody issue.

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Wallace faces 'No confidence motion"
« Reply #200 on: October 25, 2020, 09:19:19 AM »
Wallace faces 'No confidence motion"
By Keith Clement(T&T Guardian)


After suffering a massive blow in the T&T Appeal Court to his presidency of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), William Wallace will be called upon Sunday to survive a 'Vote of No-confidence' when the membership meet in a virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) this morning.

However, in the latest twist to this football saga which has been going on since March, the embattled president will not be present. He issued a letter to the sports membership on Saturday advising them that he and his two remaining vice president Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip will not be attending the EGM which he trigged on October 15. He said in the latter that: "We shall not stand in your way."

Kieron Edwards, the president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) said that the membership had requested answers to 19 questions sent to the president on Thursday so he could prepare the answers for the membership at the meeting.

He said two of the questions that Wallace will need to provide answers for are: How the TTFA debt $70 million, will be cleared, and how he proposes to pay the salaries of coaches, office staff and other contracted officials, such as Peter Miller, the TTFA's marketing representative?

Guardian Media Sports understands that office staff has not been paid since July, while the coaches have not been paid since their appointments in December 2019 and January this year.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal judges, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled in FIFA favour and overturned the ruling by High Court Judge Carol Gobin made on October 13, thereby throwing the future of United T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip into limbo.

The lawsuit, brought by embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA executive team, which also included vice president Susan Joseph-Warrick before she resigned the post on September 25, contravened the TTFA's Constitution, which prescribes that all disputes between the TTFA and FIFA should be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Appellate judges concluded.

The Appeal Court, the highest court in T&T, also ordered the cash-strapped TTFA to pay the legal cost of FIFA.

In fact, in his summary of the decision, Judge Bereaux stated that: "There is no evidence that William Wallace was not authorised by the Board to bring this action. That there cannot, therefore, be established." which means that the cost is the responsibility of the TTFA.

TTFA board member and the T&T Pro League acting chairman Brent Sancho told Guardian Media Sports that: "Just like the financial burden that is coming out of the unilateral contracts signed by Wallace which is possibly costing the FA close to $14 million and of course the immense fall out the TTFA is experiencing because of him and his egotistical cronies charge towards the high courts of Trinidad and Tobago, all without board approval. This is yet again an example of a man that seems to believe he is a lord onto himself. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the membership will be actively looking at taking a legal course for breach of fiduciary duties. It is a must."

Another board member Richard Quan Chan of the Southern Football Association said: "The membership need to take legal action against the United TTFA team for the legal cost which the court ordered the TTFA to pay FIFA. The decision to take legal action against FIFA was a United TTFA decision and not a TTFA Board decision. The TTFA should not be saddled with that cost since it was never informed, gave approval or was involved in such a decision."

On May 18, the United TTFA withdrawing the matter from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the same day the group of Wallace, vice presidents Taylor, Phillip and Joseph-Warrick with supporters Keith Look Loy, the president of the T&T Super League and Anthony Harford, the former president of the Northern Football Association (NFA) filed proceedings in the T&T High Court seeking principally a declaration that the decision of FIFA to appoint a normalisation committee and purporting to remove the TTFA’s duly elected officers was null and void and of no effect.

However, Friday's ruling has also put in doubt today's EGM to decide on the future of the sport in T&T since it squashed Judge Gobin's ruling on October 13, but FIFA's September 24 suspension to date remains in effect and FIFA has also demanded that the TTFA Statutes comes in line with FIFA's own before the suspension is lifted.

The membership will first discuss the status and legality of today's meeting before proceeding with the lone agenda item — 1. Discussions re: the way forward - FIFA suspension.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Tallman

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We shall not stand in your way — Wallace
« Reply #201 on: October 25, 2020, 09:30:30 AM »
We shall not stand in your way — Wallace
T&T Guardian


The embattled president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), William Wallace on Saturday issued a letter to the sports membership advising them that he and his two remaining vice president Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip will not be attending Sunday's virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). The meeting is to decided on the future of T&T football.

Dear Members,

Let me start by saying that I am still quite unable to comprehend how anybody can think that what Fifa did in March 2020 is acceptable. Maybe it was desirable that those who elected us should be consulted. Frankly, however, it never occurred to us that anyone would view Fifa's decision to send in a normalisation committee after a mere four months of our tenure in any way different from the way we viewed it. In addition, the action directly affected the Executive and to some extent brought our names into disrepute.

We remain convinced that the right to make our case, to let our voices be heard, is a basic human right. It is a right which, in our view, Fifa denied us when they abrogated their responsibility at the Court of Arbitration. We are well aware of what that action led to.

We hasten to add that we recognise the authority of the Appeal Court to conclude that Madame Justice Carol Gobin erred.

We take this opportunity to salute all those TTFA members who did repose confidence in us in November and have not backed away from their initial position. We salute as well as those who did but later changed their minds. We do not begrudge them their right so to do.

We also thank all those ordinary citizens of our two-island republic who have no interest in football but have been able to see that the issue goes well beyond the field of play.

Over the last seven months since March, we were fortunate to be allowed rare candid views of the TTFA as it is really seen from several other vantage points, including the international and the regional and, latterly, the judicial and the political.

That combination of different points of view, especially the political, has made it clear to my vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip, and me that our views and the views of some fraction of the membership remain at variance at this time. We are acutely aware that tomorrow is promised to no one of us and that it is the membership's right to decide on the tomorrow they desire for the TTFA.

We shall not stand in your way.

To this end, we have decided to absent ourselves from the EGM carded for November 25. In our view, the meeting was properly constituted and as per constitution, the delegates can elect a chairperson in the absence of the President.

Rayshawn Mars, Secretary and delegate of the North Zone has agreed to provide the technical support needed to conduct the meeting. We wish you a successful meeting

TTFA President
William Wallace
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Wallace and Co omit themselves from Sunday's EGM
« Reply #202 on: October 25, 2020, 09:34:08 AM »
Wallace and Co omit themselves from Sunday's EGM
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)


T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip have omitted themselves from Sunday’s crucial extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the fraternity’s 47-member delegation.

On the eve of the much anticipated EGM, which is being held to chart a way forward for T&T football, Wallace wrote to the TTFA’s membership explaining his absence while declaring Sunday’s meeting “properly constituted”.

“Over the last seven months since March, we were fortunate to be allowed rare candid views of the TTFA as it is really seen from several other vantage points—including the international and the regional and, latterly, the judicial and the political.

“That combination of different points of view, especially the political, has made it clear to my vice-presidents and me that our views and the views of some fraction of the membership remain at variance at this time.

He continued, “We are acutely aware that tomorrow is promised to no one of us and that it is the membership’s right to decide on the tomorrow they desire for the TTFA. We shall not stand in your way.

“To this end, we have decided to absent ourselves from the EGM. In our view, the meeting was properly constituted and as per constitution the delegates can elect a chairperson in the absence of the president.”

Wallace closed by saying Rayshawn Mars, secretary and delegate of the North Zone, agreed to provide the technical support needed to conduct the EGM. He then wished the member delegation a “successful meeting.”

Additionally, the embattled president remains convinced the previous court matter between the ousted executive and FIFA could have been heard in the local courts.

On Friday, however, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux overturned two rulings delivered by Justice Carol Gobin of the TT High Court, delivered in August and October, on the local court’s jurisdiction to hear the TTFA’s complaint and its challenge of the imposition of the normalisation committee in March.

Both appellate court judges agreed the filing of proceedings in the local courts by TTFA’s president and his executive was a breach of the local football body’s constitution which provides that any dispute against a decision by FIFA must be heard by the CAS.

Wallace’s letter to the membership also said, “We remain convinced that the right to make our case, to let our voices be heard, is a basic human right. It is a right which, in our view, Fifa denied us when they abrogated their responsibility at the Court of Arbitration.

“We are well aware of what that action led to. We hasten to add that we recognise the authority of the appeal court to conclude that Madame Justice Carol Gobin erred.”

In response to Wallace,Taylor and Phillip pulling out of the EGM, TTFA board member Brent Sancho dubbed this move as anticlimactic. He even classed the executive’s “cowardly decision” as “the biggest farce in local football” and also deemed the meeting unconstitutional.

“The executive board never met. They sent out an email stating that they wanted to host a meeting. There’s nothing in the TTFA constitution which talks about round-robin a decision of such. The executive committee (13 members) can call an EGM but they have to meet to discuss the agenda and the actual meeting. There was none of that. No discussions were held,” he stated.

In this regard, Sancho believes the EGM was not properly constituted. He was also uncertain if he would take part in Sunday’s meeting but will address the Central FC board to decide what their next step is.

“This is part and parcel of the way they do things. The fact that he sent out this pathetic press release about not being in the meeting, I mean, how much more disrespectful can you get to the membership? They’re asking for a way forward and you’re not there. They are constantly dodging, diving, running from questions and refusing to face the music,” said the former sports minister.

Sancho continued, “How can you call a meeting, a non-constitutional one, then don’t show up as though you don’t want to hear the members and leave the entire thing in chaos? He’s a coward, he has absolutely no reason to be in any position of power.

“You can clearly see this has been one of the biggest farce in the history of football. He has taken the representation of this country and thrown it down a hole. I’m disgusted by his actions, the people around him and his advisors.”

Additionally, president of the East Zone Football Association (EFA) Kieron Edwards is unconcerned with Wallace, Taylor and Phillip’s decision to be absent. According to him, once enough TTFA members are in attendance, whatever decisions are agreed upon by the membership, these findings will determine the way forward for T&T football.

“It doesn’t concern me who attends the meeting, once we have a quorum. Any and every decision the membership makes must be abided by. With or without the president there, we will have the meeting and the members will have their say,” said Edwards.

Before Wallace and his team’s abrupt exit, the EFA president penned a detailed two-page document to the executive questioning how it plans to run the sport’s affairs if the nation remains indefinitely banned by FIFA.

“By them not showing up at the EGM, they gave an answer to me which indicates that they’re not answering anything. So whatever the decision the membership has to make at the EGM, they would be made. They were questions that were supposed to be answered. If he doesn’t want to, then that’s his choice,” he stated.

Meanwhile, chairman of the normalisation committee Robert Hadad remained tight-lipped on Friday’s ruling by the Court of Appeal, which quashed Wallace’s reinstatement back to the helm of the TTFA, making way for the possible reappointment of the FIFA-appointed committee.

He said, “We’re still working through exactly what the position is because TT is still suspended. Give me a couple days because we’re still discussing exactly where it is we’re going and we want to see what happens at the EGM.”
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TTFA v FIFA: What the Court of Appeal found
« Reply #203 on: October 26, 2020, 07:44:49 AM »
TTFA v FIFA: What the Court of Appeal found
T&T Guardian


Delivering a judgement during a virtual hearing of Firday, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled that the lawsuit, brought by embattled TTFA president William Wallace and his United TTFA executive team, contravened the TTFA's constitution.

The decision means that FIFA is now free to reintroduce the normalisation committee (NC) which replaced Wallace and his three vice presidents — Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillips, and Susan Joseph-Warrick (resigned) on March 17. The The eleced executives were contending that the NC installed on March 27 by FIFA “was unwarranted and indefensible” and also “made in bad faith and for an improper and illegal motive”.

DECISION

Chief justice Ivor Archie

1. I have had the benefit of reading the judgment of Bereaux, J.A. in this matter and I agree with his reasoning and conclusions. Accordingly, I too would allow the appeal and set aside the decisions and declarations of the learned judge at first instance. It would also follow that the TTFA must pay FIFA’s costs. However, this court – having rendered its decision – I wish to make some observations about the manner in which this case has been managed.

2. Service of originating documents, unless unequivocally waived, is a pre-requisite to the progression of proceedings. As any experienced practitioner will know, service of originating process is an arcane area of procedural law that is littered with pitfalls. Many a claim has floundered at the first hurdle. This is merely the latest example. Having come to the conclusion that the service was unlawful, quite apart from the other reasons set out in the judgment of my learned brother, we have no choice but to allow this appeal.

3. As Mendonca J.A. opined in Gomes v Nunez, (see para 33), the Civil Procedure Rules are a complete, self-contained scheme for the management of civil litigation. There is no inherent power in the Court to invent a process that is outside the contemplation of the Rules and then to direct a party to employ it. That is a recipe for chaos. Permitting it to stand would only further complicate an already difficult area of the law as there would be no guardrails for the purported exercise of any such discretion.

4. Owing to the particular primary challenge mounted by FIFA, it would have been wiser to let the challenge to service be determined, particularly in the context of a pending appeal. It was neither prudent case management nor an economical deployment of judicial time and resources to attempt to finally determine the substantive issues and to deliver a judgment less than a week before the scheduled hearing of the interlocutory appeal. The foreseeable result is that we must now set aside the declarations granted below.

5. While we are aware that the filing of an appeal against a final decision does not entitle the unsuccessful party to a stay, deeper consideration must be given in circumstances like this where, depending on the outcome of the appeal, the effort expended would have been in vain and the appellate court may be obliged to reverse any decision. Zeal is commendable but it must not obscure the need for caution. I trust that, in future, Courts at first instance will be guided accordingly.

Summary of decision

Nolan P.G Bereaux Justice of Appeal

The appeal is allowed for the reasons given at paragraphs i, iii and iv below:

i. The filing of these proceedings was a breach of Article 67 of TTFA’s Constitution by which the TTFA is bound. Section 67 is unambiguous. Any appeal against a final and binding decision passed by FIFA shall be heard by CAS. The filing of these proceedings was therefore ultra vires Article 67, null, void and of no effect and must be struck out.

ii. There is no evidence that William Wallace was not authorised by the Board to bring this action. That there cannot therefore be established.

iii. The judge was plainly wrong in refusing to stay these proceedings in favour of arbitration before the CAS. The Court of Appeal is entitled to look at the matter afresh. FIFA has met the threshold requirements which trigger the court’s discretion under section 7 of the Arbitration Act Chapter 5:01. I am satisfied that there was no reason why the matter should not have been referred to arbitration and that FIFA was ready, willing and able to conduct the arbitration.

iv. The purported service of proceedings by e-mail was a breach of the laws of Switzerland. Consequently, it was a breach of Part 7.8(2) of the Civil Proceedings Rules 1998 (CPR) which expressly provides that neither Part 7.8 nor any court order authorises any person to do anything in the country in which the court order is to be served, which is in breach of the law of that county. Because service of process by e- mail is illegal in Switzerland, any such service is void and therefore a nullity. It was also a breach of Part 7. 6(2)(b) of the CPR.

Analysis

Nolan P.G Bereaux Justice of Appeal

iv. On a proper review of the evidence, FIFA’s refusal to pay the advance costs of the arbitration did not amount to a lack of readiness or an unwillingness to properly conduct the appeal. As Mr. Palacios explained, it was FIFA’s practice, in conducting its arbitrations, not to pay advance costs because of the large numbers of arbitrations in which it is involved. Other than that, FIFA had proceeded to nominate one of the three arbitrators required for the conduct of the arbitration.

Issue ii – Did the President, William Wallace, have the authority to bring these proceedings?

31. Mr. Hamel-Smith submitted that he did not. He contended that under the TTFA’s Constitution, that authority resided in the board of directors as a whole and there was nothing in the evidence to suggest that such authority had been obtained. Certainly we would expect that any action taken by a corporate person will first have had the sanction of its board of directors. But there is nothing in the evidence to suggest that Mr. Wallace did not have the authority.

Issue iii – Should these proceedings have been stayed in favour of arbitration?

32. Had I come to another conclusion on the vires of the TTFA’s institution of these proceedings the appellant would have been entitled to a stay of these proceedings under section 7 of the Arbitration Act Chapter 5:01 or under the courts inherent jurisdiction. I shall address only the section 7 power in this appeal. Section 7 provides:

“If any party to an arbitration agreement, or any person claiming through or under him, commences any legal proceedings in the Court against any other party to the arbitration agreement, or any person claiming through or under him, in respect of any matter agreed to be referred, any party to such legal proceedings may, at any time after appearance and before delivering any pleadings or taking any other steps in the proceedings, apply to the Court to stay the proceedings, and the Court, if satisfied that there is no sufficient reason why the matter should not be referred in accordance with the arbitration agreement, and that the applicant was, at the time when the proceedings were commenced, and still remains, ready and willing to do all things necessary to the proper conduct of the arbitration, may make an order staying the proceedings.”

37. Dr. Crowne submitted that FIFA’s refusal to pay the advance costs of the arbitration rendered the costs of the arbitration prohibitive and the arbitration agreement inoperable. The evidence in this regard showed that by letter dated 30th April, 2020 CAS informed TTFA of FIFA’s policy of not paying advance costs and then called upon the respondent to pay the entire upfront fee. In the context of an already financially straitened organisation, such a request did seem to me to be highly unreasonable. My concern was heightened when I read Article 64(2) of the Statutes of the Bodies Working for the Settlement of Sports Related Disputes (which govern CAS arbitrations it appears) which was used by CAS to justify TTFA paying the entire amount of upfront costs. There was no basis under that provision for calling on the TTFA to pay the entire sum. Dr. Crowne submitted that calling upon the TTFA to pay that exorbitant sum was unconscionable and rendered the agreement unenforceable. He relied on the decision in Uber Technologies Inc v Heller 2020 SCC 16, in which a majority of the Canada Supreme Court held such a clause to be unconscionable and unenforceable in circumstances where the upfront costs to arbitrate a claim against Uber was equal to all or most of the gross annual income of the claimant working full time as an Uber driver. There is no question of unconscionability here. That case is distinguishable. The facts of this case are nowhere as extreme. FIFA in any event recanted its position and was prepared to pay its upfront costs.

Order

Nolan P.G Bereaux Justice of Appeal

50. I would therefore formally order as follows:

(i) The appeal is allowed. The decision of Gobin J dated 13th August, 2020 is set aside.

(ii) The decision of Gobin J dated 13th October, 2020 is set aside. The order granting declarations therein is quashed.

(iii) The costs of this appeal must follow the event. The TTFA therefore shall pay the appellant’s costs of the application in the High Court, certified fit for one senior and one junior attorney-at-law.

(iv) The TTFA shall also pay the appellant’s costs of this appeal which shall be two thirds of the costs assessed in the High Court.

Appearances:

C. Hamel-Smith SC, J. Walker instructed by C. Gopie, Attorneys-at-law, for the Appellant

Dr. E. Crowne, M. Gayle instructed by J. Jones and C. Paul, Attorneys-at-law, for the Respondent

Editor's Note:

The above represents selected portions taken from the 23-page judgment delivered on October 23, 2020 by the Court of Appeal.
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Lewis: Court ruling gives clarity
« Reply #204 on: October 26, 2020, 08:00:49 AM »
Lewis: Court ruling gives clarity
T&T Express


Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee president Brian Lewis has said that the Court of Appeal ruling in the Trinidad and Tobago (TTFA) versus FIFA matter provided much needed clarity for sporting bodies to be guided by going forward.

“The decision of the Court of Appeal in the TTFA versus FIFA matter is very important in the context of sports jurisprudence in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Lewis.

“It would have provided important clarity by which sports organisations in Trinidad and Tobago can and must be guided by especially and including those incorporated under an act of Parliament such as the T&T Olympic Committee among others,” he added.

“The process and procedures (for conflict resolution) have been clearly laid out and it is an important decision in providing that needed clarity,” Lewis continued.

He also noted what the Appeal Court Justices said about FIFA’s initial requirement for the TTFA to pay the up-front costs to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

“What is also important was that in judgement, the actions of FIFA in initially requiring the TTFA to pay all the up-front cost was deemed highly unreasonable and that the action of CAS in supporting that request was deemed to have been reflective and without independent considerations,” Lewis said.

“Those are important conclusions as they in reality had, in my view, substance to the initial aggrievement of Mr William Wallace and his team in terms of the process they would have faced. What the Court of Appeal clarified was the issue of jurisdiction. The Court of Arbitration of Sport was the jurisdiction for that matter to be heard notwithstanding the sense of aggrievement would have been felt and that the views that the process wasn’t impartial,” he added.

“The Court of Appeal indicated that they were persuaded by Mr Hamel-Smith that the actions were those in the administrative division of CAS as opposed to the arbitrators themselves.

“The Court of Appeal did express in the judgment in paragraph 37 and 39 some concerns about the impartiality of CAS and what appears to be a cosy relationship with FIFA. There was no basis for calling on the TTFA to pay the entire up-front cost and FIFA was highly unreasonable,” Lewis concluded.
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New ‘Normal’: TTFA delegates continue to call for Wallace’s resignation
« Reply #205 on: October 26, 2020, 08:16:57 AM »
New ‘Normal’: TTFA delegates continue to call for Wallace’s resignation
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) representatives had their say when unanimously voting to have a FIFA-appointed normalisation committee take charge of running football in Trinidad and Tobago.

In the absence of outcast TTFA president William Wallace, his vice-presidents, and a United TTFA presence, Association delegates took charge of their destiny at yesterday’s Emergency General Meeting (EGM), at which members took decisive action they believed would clear the way for the lifting of FIFA’s international suspension of the TTFA.

“This motion that was passed basically agreed that the directorship of the TTFA will go to the normalisation committee,” stated Board member Brent Sancho, acting chairman of the T&T Pro League. “We essentially asked them to replace Wallace and company.”

FIFA suspended the TTFA on September 24 for breach of its statutes when, in defiance of the wishes of the TTFA majority, the former TTFA executive, led by Wallace, challenged their March 17 removal by FIFA—which imposed its own normalisation committee to run local football. Wallace was reinstated by Justice Carol Gobin’s October 13, judgment, declaring that FIFA’s imposition of a normalisation committee as null and void. But 10 days later, the Appeal Court, led by Chief Justice Ivor Archie and including Justice Nolan Bereaux, quashed Justice Gobin’s judgment and ruled in favour of FIFA.

The Appeal Court’s decision confirmed that both the TTFA constitution and FIFA Statutes gave FIFA the right to appoint a normalisation committee. Wallace had pledged that he would not appeal the decision.

Richard Ferguson, the Terminix La Horquetta Rangers managing director and former TTFA presidential candidate, chaired yesterday’s EGM at which delegates passed a resolution to reinstate FIFA’s normalisation committee and also to remove all matters against world football’s governing body from court.

Members also agreed to amend the TTFA statutes, structuring it more in line with the statutes of FIFA, and so fulfilling conditions the world body had set for the TTFA to be reinstated to the international football fold. Once the suspension is removed, T&T will be eligible to compete in qualifiers for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“The message sent is that we have lost all confidence in Mr Wallace, and want the normalisation committee to take charge,” stated Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Kieron Edwards. “Correspondence will be sent to the normalisation committee chairman Mr (Robert) Hadad shortly... by Tuesday, and it is then up to FIFA to go forward and rectify the suspension and so on,” Edwards explained.

A majority 35 of 47 delegates actively took part in the one-hour virtual EGM, with just a couple having difficulty logging on due to technical issues, while a minority chose not to participate. Referees Association representative Osmond Downer raised a motion which was seconded by Morvant Caledonia United’s Jamaal Shabazz and voted upon by the 35 delegates on-line.

“Be it resolved that in view of the precarious position that the TTFA now finds itself that this extraordinary general meeting of the TTFA decides that the way forward for the TTFA is for the TTFA to fully comply with its obligations as a member of FIFA, recognising the legitimacy of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee in bringing its own statutes in line with the FIFA statutes and to fully comply with the normalisation committee. Be it further resolved that all court matters existing between the TTFA and FIFA shall be immediately brought to a stop,” Downer’s motion stated.

“I think the members came in knowing that we had to do something to make sure that we got back into the FIFA fold,” Sancho added. Of those present virtually, only a Tobago representative and a FC Santa Rosa delegate abstained, while among those missing were representatives from the Veterans Football Organisation and the Pro League club, FC Port of Spain.

“Basically, it was a motion of no-confidence in William Wallace and his associates,” stated Edwards, adding, “The motion was passed with 33 members voting in favour, two abstaining, and none against.” The Express’ attempts to contact Wallace for a response to the EGM‘s outcome and to confirm whether he would resign—as he had indicated last week—proved futile, as Wallace could not be reached. However, TTFA board members are calling on him to step aside.

“Mister Wallace said that if members wanted to move on with normalisation, that he would resign. A clear 33 members out of 35 present voted that they do not have the confidence in him to lead the TTFA. He should do the honourable thing as he said he would resign,” Edwards noted.
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33 delegates voted to reinstate Normalisation Committee
« Reply #206 on: October 26, 2020, 08:17:39 AM »
33 delegates voted to reinstate Normalisation Committee
By Keith Clement (T&T Guardian)


In what was described as a very cordial and mature gathering of the membership of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), the meeting voted for the reinstatement of the FIFA appointed normalisation committee to resume its control and administration of the local sports during a virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Sunday.

The meeting was chaired by Richard Ferguson in the absence of embattled president William Wallace and his two vice presidents - Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip, who made good on their written promise not to attend.

However, in their absence, 38 of 47 delegates entitled to vote, appointed Ferguson, who contested the November 24 presidency of the TTFA and lost in the first round, to chair the meeting after he was nominated by Caledonia Morvant representative Jamal Shabazz and seconded by Howard Spencer of the Southern Football Association (SFA) to do so. He was unanimously given the nod.

Guardian Media Sports was informed that the meeting which got off to a late start but completed its single agenda item - Discussions re: The way forward - FIFA suspension, by noon following a motion which was moved by Osmond Downer, the T&T Football Referees (T&TFRA) representative which read: "Be it resolved that, in view of the precarious position that the TTFA now finds itself, this extraordinary general meeting of the TTFA decides that the way forward for the TTFA is for the TTFA to fully comply with its obligation as a member of FIFA, recognising the legitimacy of the FIFA appointed normalisation committee, and bringing its own statutes in line with the FIFA Statutes, and to fully cooperate with the normalisation committee in the fulfilment of its mandate as stated in FIFA's letter of March 17, 2020. Be it further resolved that all court matters existing between the TTFA and FIFA shall be immediately brought to a stop".

The motion was seconded by Keith Jefferys of Central FC with 33 delegates voting in favour of it, while three delegates, when called upon to vote, did not respond. The Tobago FA's Terry Jopseh and the Santa Rosa FC representative abstained.

Meanwhile, the letter sent to president Wallace on Thursday by Kieron Edwards, the president of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) requesting that he answers 19 questions which included how he intends to pay the salaries of coaches, office staff and other contracted officials like Peter Miller, the TTFA's marketing representative and how the TTFA debt $70 million will be cleared, but issue did not come up since Wallace was not present. Neither did the vote of no-confidence in the president and his vice two presidents.

According to Downer, "There was no need to move such a motion since the agenda did make provision for it and only the constitution can address it.

The meeting also directed Ferguson, a businessman and the owner of Terminix La Horquatta Rangers FC and Boni Bishop, the general secretary of T&TFRA to write Robert Hadad, the chairman of the normalisation committee informing his about the membership decision and that the letter must be delivered by 4 pm on Tuesday.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal judges, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled in FIFA favour and overturned the ruling by High Court Judge Carol Gobin made on October 13, thereby throwing the future of United T&T Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice presidents into limbo.

The lawsuit, brought by Wallace and his United TTFA team, which also included former football executives, T&T Super League president Keith Look Loy and Anthony Harford, the president of the Northern Football Association (NFA), contravened the TTFA's Constitution, which prescribes that all disputes between the TTFA and FIFA should be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Appellate judges concluded.

The Appeal Court, the highest court in T&T, also ordered the cash-strapped TTFA to pay the legal cost of FIFA.

In fact, in his summary of the decision, Judge Bereaux stated that: "There is no evidence that William Wallace was not authorised by the Board to bring this action. That there cannot, therefore, be established." which means that the cost is the responsibility of the TTFA.

The meeting which also had 13 observers, also decided to address the Court of Appeal decision on Friday in which it ordered that the TTFA pays FIFA legal cost in the jurisdiction appeal matter which FIFA won, at another meeting.

On Saturday, TTFA board member and the T&T Pro League acting chairman Brent Sancho told Guardian Media Sports that: "Just like the financial burden that is coming out of the unilateral contracts signed by Wallace which is possibly costing the TTFA close to $14 million and of course the immense fall out the TTFA is experiencing because of him and his egotistical cronies charge towards the high courts of Trinidad and Tobago, all without board approval. This is yet again an example of a man that seems to believe he is a lord onto himself. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the membership will be actively looking at taking a legal course for breach of fiduciary duties. It is a must."

Another board member Richard Quan Chan of the Southern Football Association said: "The membership need to take legal action against the United TTFA team for the legal cost which the court ordered the TTFA to pay FIFA. The decision to take legal action against FIFA was a United TTFA decision and not a TTFA Board decision. The TTFA should not be saddled with that cost since it was never informed, gave approval or was involved in such a decision."

FIFA suspended the TTFA on September 24 (T&T Republic Day) from all football events and activities under FIFA and demanded that the TTFA Statutes comes in line with FIFA's own before the suspension is lifted.

In the event, that the suspension is not lifted by either FIFA or the CAS by 5 pm on December 18, T&T will be replaced by Antigua and Barbuda as the next highest-ranked team based on performances during the 2019 Concacaf Nations League.
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Statutory ambiguity
« Reply #207 on: October 27, 2020, 02:01:51 PM »
Statutory ambiguity
By Dr. Terrence Farrell (T&T Express)


THE decision of the Court of Appeal has drawn a line under the litigation between the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, a conflict which recalls the Creole aphorism: “Tief from tief does make God laugh!” Justice Gobin took the parties and the country on an excursion which brought to mind former Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide’s query, posed in the context of another matter adjudicated by Gobin J, as to whether judicial review legislation had opened the door to “judicial adventurism’’.

Justice Gobin’s frolic did, however, surface a significant issue, the legal status of certain entities created by statute and the justiciability of their actions.

To be sure, the issue is not really new. Justice Judith Jones (as she then was) had to interpret the Integrity in Public Life Act of 2000 and the related amendments to the Constitution.

Those pieces of legislation widened the ambit of the Integrity Commission to include boards of “statutory bodies and state enterprises, including those bodies in which the State has a controlling interest”. But the legislation did not define either.

After interrogating the Interpretation Act and the Constitution itself, Jones J opined that: “In their natural and ordinary meaning the term [statutory bodies] must be taken to mean: ‘those bodies or organisations established by statute’... there is no other possible meaning that can be ascribed to these words.”

And there lay the problem. There are a host of organisations—sporting, charitable, religious—that are established by statute. Attorney Tyrone Marcus (Guardian October 18) gave a list of sporting organisations created by statute. The Catholic Religious Education Development Institute, of which I am a director, was set up by statute. Ricardo Williams (Sunday Express October 25) has given an excellent summary of how such organisations come into being and from where their powers arise, which is not from the statute incorporating them.

These organisations are incorporated by statute for reasons of prestige or some other arcane reason. But as Bereaux JA pointed out, that does not mean that they have any defined public purpose or respond to any public policy.

They do not report to Parliament or to any government minister. They do not fall within the principle established in Datafin because they discharge no public duty. And even if, as with the TTFA, there is some public interest in what they do, that is not sufficient to bring them within the ambit of judicial review.

Despite the Jones decision, which has not been appealed, the Integrity Commission has wisely ignored these particular “statutory bodies’’ and has not required their boards to be subjected to its onerous strictures.

Incorporation by statute wrong-footed Boodoosingh J (as he then was) in the Look Loy v Gabriel matter, on which Gobin J relied, and which Bereaux JA suggests was also wrongly decided on that point. Bereaux JA, clear-headed and careful, and the antithesis of judicial activism, did not seek to legislate when a body created by statute should be treated as a private body and hence not subject to judicial review. However, his dicta on that point leaves open the question whether a body established by statute could, outside of resort to arbitration, oust the jurisdiction of the local courts if its legislation explicitly so provided, and whether or not our courts would accept such ouster.

The difficulties of statutory incorporation do not end there. There remains considerable ambiguity about the governance of State-owned enterprises. Yes, they do fall within the purview of the Integrity Commission, and, in accordance with section 119(9) of the Constitution, they do “report’’ to Parliament, usually long after horses have bolted. But because State enterprises are incorporated under the Companies Act, the only legitimate nexus to governance by the State is through the Minister of Finance (Corporation Sole) Act, which is wholly inadequate for effecting good governance. This lacuna has allowed corporate travesties such as UDeCOTT, Education Facilities, Petrotrin’s GTL project, EMBD, LifeSport, and a host of others to occur.

The applicability of judicial review to State enterprises was discussed in NH International v UDeCOTT with instructive judgments by Kangaloo and Warner JJA, and a powerful and persuasive dissent by Sharma CJ.

It is why the 2016 State Enterprise Review Committee recommended that all State-owned enterprises be governed under a two-tiered legal system of incorporation of the Companies Act, together with a New Zealand-style State Enterprise act which clearly legislates the powers of both the “line minister’’ and the finance minister, and would leave directors of state enterprises, who are now very exposed, much less exposed.

The TTFA-FIFA imbroglio will unfold and one hopes that there will eventually be an outcome that is positive for the game in Trinidad and Tobago.

The question of the status of private bodies incorporated by statute which probably should not be, and State enterprises which are not, but should be, ought to garner the attention of a Law Reform Commission, if we still have one.
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Re: FIFA suspends the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association
« Reply #208 on: October 27, 2020, 04:55:44 PM »
‘A wasted trial’; how Gobin and Wallace were undone by court of appeal—as Fifa prevailed.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) versus the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) was billed as the most important case in local sport history, at the opening whistle.

By the time the dust had cleared, though, Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux described the exercise as ‘a wasted trial’ and Madame Justice Carol Gobin’s seismic rulings in the Port of Spain high court were consigned to the bin, rather than the judicial history books.

The TTFA was represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul, while Fifa was represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.

TTFA president William Wallace still, theoretically, has the option of a final appeal to the privy council. But, by Monday morning, it may no longer be his call to make, as the TTFA’s 47 member delegates await for what promises to be a feisty, extraordinary general meeting on Sunday.

Wallace cannot be removed on Sunday, as his fate is not on the agenda. But a strong show of disapproval for his actions can make his position untenable, still less than 12 months into his four-year term as president.

The besieged TTFA president said, earlier this week, that no matter what happened today or on Sunday, he would be buoyed by Gobin’s notable judgments in the high court. Today, he lost that as well, as Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Bereaux tore into Gobin’s decisions as well as the merits of the TTFA’s approach to the local high court.

It is worth noting that, after Wallace and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip were removed by a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee on 13 March, the officials set off in search of an independent hearing. They still have not gotten that.

Today’s matter was about whether the Trinidad and Tobago courts was the right venue for the proceedings. And Archie and Bereaux said, emphatically, ‘no’.

Remarkably, the court of appeal ruled that the TTFA’s attorney had not served Fifa properly to begin the proceedings in the first place.

“As any experienced practitioner will know, service of originating process is an arcane area of procedural law that is littered with pitfalls,” said Archie. “Many a claim has floundered at the first hurdle. This is merely the latest example.

“Having come to the conclusion that the service was unlawful, quite apart from the other reasons set out in the judgment of my learned brother, we have no choice but to allow this appeal.”

Bereaux, for his part, said Gobin was ‘wrong to reject’ an affidavit from Fifa attorney Miguel Lietard Palacios that pointed to TTFA’s apparent failure to follow Swiss law in serving his employer by email.

Bereaux described the form of service as ‘illegal … void and a nullity’ and ‘another reason why the judge’s order must be set aside and the claim struck out on this basis’.

“Due regard and respect must be paid, as a matter comity, for the laws of other nations,” stated Bereaux. “A court is committed to uphold the rule of law and cannot give effect or be seen to give effect, to a form of service of process which is unlawful under the law of another country in which the proceedings have been served.

“If the proceedings are to have effect in Trinidad and Tobago, they must not be tainted by illegality—especially an illegality in the country of one of the parties to the dispute, who will be expected to observe any order which the Trinidad and Tobago court makes.”

Archie further chided Gobin.

“There is no inherent power in the court to invent a process that is outside the contemplation of the rules and then to direct a party to employ it,” said the chief justice. “That is a recipe for chaos.”

Gobin, in refusing Fifa’s request for the TTFA case to be stayed and/or directed to CAS, gave weight to the fact that the local football body is incorporated by an act of parliament. As such, she ruled that Wallace’s grievance ‘falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the high court of this country’.

Section 3 of the TTFA Act states: ‘The aims and objects of the Association are:-

1. to regulate and control the conduct of Football in Trinidad and Tobago (under the Federation Internationale de Football Association system) and to provide playing fields and conveniences in connection therewith;

2. to promote local, inter-territorial and International Football matches and to provide prizes or awards to participants thereof; and

3. to foster and promote the playing of Football under the said system and to become members of or affiliated to Associations having similar objects.”

Gobin suggested that section 3 was not ‘operative’ since ‘a reference to the Fifa system in any case is not the same as Fifa Statutes’.

“Had Parliament intended to enact Fifa Statutes so as to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and to effectively deprive the TTFA of access to the courts of this country,” said Gobin, “it would have had to do so expressly in clear and unambiguous terms. Because TTFA is a statutorily-created corporation, it cannot oust the jurisdiction of the courts by its rules.

“Further, the adoption of rules which seek to oust the jurisdiction of the courts breach a well-established policy of the law, which renders such rules void. Moreover, it is outwith the jurisdiction of an entity incorporated under our legislation to agree to submit to foreign law as Fifa Statutes prescribe.”

However, Bereaux said Gobin erred by effectively failing to grasp the reasoning behind the act of parliament in general and section 3 in particular.

“The TTFA Act was introduced into parliament as a private member’s bill,” said the justice of the appeal. “There was no debate on the floors of either the House or Senate. It, therefore, cannot be said that there was some public policy behind its incorporation.

“To the extent that there is any policy to be discerned, one must look to the provisions of the TTFA’s Act and those point to the TTFA working compatibly within the Fifa system. Further, there is no rule of law which prohibits a corporation incorporated by an act of parliament from submitting to a jurisdiction of a foreign tribunal.”

As for section 3, Bereaux said it is indeed operative and ‘deliberately drafted in wide terms to permit TTFA the latitude to flesh out its functions and modus operandi in the constitution itself, as its membership see fit, without the necessity of having to return to parliament to broaden its powers’.

“The term ‘Fifa system’ is vague, deliberately so,” said Bereaux. “This is because the term is intended to cover the entire system of football organised and controlled by Fifa.

“Such governance can only be effected by Fifa through laws, rules and regulations; that is to say, the Fifa statutes, as well as Fifa’s subordinate rules and regulations, decisions and directives.”

Having decided that the TTFA Act did not restrict the local football from abiding by Fifa’s regulations in any way, Bereaux did not accept Crowne’s argument that the stipulation which forced the local body to use CAS was an imposition.

Article 67 of the TTFA Constitution states:

‘In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fifa Statutes, any appeal against a final and binding decision passed by Fifa, Concacaf or the leagues shall be heard by the CAS, unless another arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction in accordance with art 69.

‘[…] TTFA shall ensure its full compliance and that of all those subject to its jurisdiction with any final decision passed by a Fifa body, by a Concacaf body, by the arbitration tribunal recognised by TTFA or by the CAS.’

Bereaux said Fifa membership is voluntary and if the TTFA chose to join, then it is obliged to accept its rules.

“The TTFA has made that choice—a choice which preceded its incorporation in 1982,” said Bereaux. “It has been a member of Fifa since 1964. It chose to join Fifa and to abide by its statutes, rules and regulations.

“[…] To the extent that Article 67 ousts the court’s jurisdiction, it was the choice made by the TTFA within the wide ambit permitted it by sections 3 and 4 of the TTFA Act. Having made its choice and having bound itself by its own constitution to comply, it cannot now act outside of its provisions.”

Still, the court of appeal was unimpressed with CAS’ behaviour in this matter and its relationship with Fifa.

Wallace opted to move to the high court, on the guidance of his attorneys, after what they felt to be signs of inherent bias at CAS. And Bereaux found they had good reason to be uneasy, as he noted Fifa’s refusal—even when asked—to abide by CAS’ rules to pay arbitration fees upfront.

Inexplicably, CAS demanded that the cash-strapped TTFA pay Fifa’s share for them too, at a total cost of 40,000 Swiss francs (TT$300,000).

“In the context of an already financially straitened organisation, such a request did seem to me to be highly unreasonable,” said Bereaux. “My concern was heightened when I read Article 64(2) of the Statutes of the Bodies Working for the Settlement of Sports Related Disputes (which govern CAS arbitrations it appears), which was used by CAS to justify TTFA paying the entire amount of upfront costs. There was no basis under that provision for calling on the TTFA to pay the entire sum.

“[…] In this regard, I had entertained some concern about the impartiality of the CAS and what appeared to be a cosy relationship with Fifa.”

Yet, Bereaux found that Crowne went too far in declaring Fifa’s breach to be ‘unconscionable’.

“Dr Crowne submitted that calling upon the TTFA to pay that exorbitant sum was unconscionable and rendered the agreement unenforceable,” said the justice of the appeal. “He relied on the decision in Uber Technologies Inc v Heller 2020 SCC 16, in which a majority of the Canada Supreme Court held such a clause to be unconscionable and unenforceable in circumstances where the upfront costs to arbitrate a claim against Uber was equal to all or most of the gross annual income of the claimant working full time as an Uber driver.

“There is no question of unconscionability here. That case is distinguishable. The facts of this case are nowhere as extreme. Fifa, in any event, recanted its position and was prepared to pay its upfront costs.”

Further, he said the breach was insufficient grounds for Gobin to rule out arbitration altogether, while he noted Hamel-Smith’s argument that the fees were demanded by CAS’ administrators rather than the arbiters.

“CAS’ reaction to Fifa’s request to forego its share of upfront costs appeared to be reflexive with no apparent independent consideration being given to it,” said Bereaux. “I am however persuaded by Mr Hamel-Smith that the actions were those in the administrative division of the CAS, as opposed to the arbitrators themselves who would have decided the matter.

“In any event, as Mr Hamel-Smith rightly submitted that the Swiss Courts would be the proper forum to hear any complaints about the CAS’ impartiality. In conclusion, on this point, therefore [Fifa] was entitled to have had these proceedings stayed in favour of the arbitration proceedings before the CAS.

“[…] On a proper review of the evidence, Fifa’s refusal to pay the advance costs of the arbitration did not amount to a lack of readiness or an unwillingness to properly conduct the appeal.”

It is not that Wallace and his vice-presidents did not have a case against their removal by Fifa and the behaviour of CAS, according to the court of appeal, it is that they took their grievance to the wrong forum.

The court of appeal took Gobin to task for accommodating them.

“We are concerned here with the exercise of a judicial discretion,” said Bereaux. “Gobin J must be shown to have been plainly wrong in exercising her discretion to refuse the stay in order for this court to interfere with her decision.

“[…] In my judgment she was plainly wrong in her reasoning.”

The chief justice further denounced Gobin for her refusal to allow the court of appeal hearing to happen before she ruled on the substantial matter.

The high court judge blamed Hamel-Smith for not requesting an expedited trial from the appeal court. However, Archie accused Gobin—who he has crossed swords with publicly on other matters over the past year—of wasting the court’s time.

“Owing to the particular primary challenge mounted by Fifa, it would have been wiser to let the challenge to service be determined—particularly in the context of a pending appeal,” said Archie. “It was neither prudent case management nor an economical deployment of judicial time and resources to attempt to finally determine the substantive issues and to deliver a judgment less than a week before the scheduled hearing of the interlocutory appeal. The foreseeable result is that we must now set aside the declarations granted below.

“While we are aware that the filing of an appeal against a final decision does not entitle the unsuccessful party to a stay, deeper consideration must be given in circumstances like this where, depending on the outcome of the appeal, the effort expended would have been in vain and the appellate court may be obliged to reverse any decision.

“Zeal is commendable but it must not obscure the need for caution. I trust that, in future, courts at first instance will be guided accordingly.”

Ultimately, Wallace and/or the TTFA will pay for Gobin’s perceived error.

“[The] TTFA by proceeding with the trial while this appeal was pending must bear the costs of what is now a wasted trial,” stated Bereaux. “[…] The TTFA therefore shall pay the appellant’s costs of the application in the high court, certified fit for one senior and one junior attorney-at-law.

“The TTFA shall also pay the appellant’s costs of this appeal which shall be two-thirds of the costs assessed in the high court.”

Crowne submitted that ‘pursuit of this appeal is not only academic but also moot because Trinidad and Tobago’s membership in Fifa has now been suspended and TTFA cannot now exercise any rights under the Fifa Statutes’.

Not so, according to the court of appeal.

“While it is not in evidence before us, the reason for the suspension is the fact that the TTFA is in breach of Articles 11 and 14 of the Fifa Statutes by its filing of these proceedings,” said Bereaux. “But in any event, Fifa has challenged the validity of these proceedings in the high court and in this appeal. It is entitled to pursue its appeal.

“Further, as Mr Walker submitted, there are declarations made by Gobin J in the substantive claim which, in so far as they have been made by a high court judge of Trinidad and Tobago, are binding on Fifa (at least locally) and remain binding so long as the decision subsists.”

And so, the court of appeal proceeded to strip the TTFA of its wins in the lower court.

“The appeal is allowed; the decision of Gobin J dated 13th August 2020 is set aside,” stated Bereaux. “The decision of Gobin J dated 13th October 2020 is set aside. The order granting declarations therein is quashed.”

Yanked by Fifa, Wallace has now been spanked by his own courts.

Elected TTFA president on 24 November 2019, the former Carapichaima East Secondary vice-principal’s short stint in charge looks set to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Fifa struck first and early in the affair. Wallace and the TTFA thought they had played their way back into the match.

But, in the end, a late show by Fifa’s attorneys ensured a rout.

RELATED NEWS

Fifa triumphs! Court of appeal orders TTFA to pay legal costs as Gobin’s rulings set aside.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


In roughly four minutes, Chief Justice Ivor Archie brought Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace’s legal jaunt to a crashing halt, as the court of appeal ruled in favour of Fifa today, and set aside high court Judge Carol Gobin’s verdicts on 13 August and 13 October.

The TTFA was also ordered to pay legal costs for the high court and court of appeal to the tune of one senior counsel and one junior. Archie noted that he and fellow Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux concurred with the final ruling in every respect.

The TTFA was represented by Dr Emir Crowne, Matthew Gayle, Jason Jones and Crystal Paul, while Fifa was represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith SC, Jonathan Walker and Cherie Gopie.

Wallace and his vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, were removed, according to Fifa, on 13 March 2020, when the Bureau of the Fifa Council—headed by president Gianni Infantino—ordered that the local body would henceforth be run by a Fifa-appointed normalisation committee, due to its parlous financial state.

Wallace initially turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for adjudication; but, after complaining of bias by the Swiss-based body, changed course and filed at the Port of Spain high court instead in May. Gobin subsequently declared that Wallace was entitled to justice from the local courts due to the behaviour of CAS and Fifa and because the TTFA is formed by an act of parliament.

Archie and Bereaux took a decidedly different view today.

“The filing of these proceedings was a breach of article 67 of the TTFA’s Constitution of which the TTFA is bound,” stated the chief justice. “We are of the view that section 67 is unambiguous … The filings of these proceedings were, therefore, ultra vires, null and void and of no effect and will be struck out.”

Article 67, which deals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, states:

‘In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Statutes, any appeal against a final and binding decision passed by Fifa, Concacaf or the leagues shall be heard by the CAS, unless another arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction in accordance with art 69.

‘[…] TTFA shall ensure its full compliance and that of all those subject to its jurisdiction with any final decision passed by a Fifa body, by a Concacaf body, by the arbitration tribunal recognised by TTFA or by the CAS.’

Archie declared that Gobin was ‘plainly wrong in refusing to stay these proceedings’. The court of appeal also found the TTFA’s attorneys to be in breach of the laws of Switzerland and the local Civil Proceedings Rules (CPR) by serving Fifa via email.

“There was no reason why the matter should not have been referred to arbitration,” said Archie. “Fifa was ready, willing and able to conduct the arbitration … The decisions of Madame Justice Gobin, dated 13 August 2020 and 13 October 2020, are set aside; and the order granting the declarations dated 13 October 2020 is squashed.”

Wallace revealed earlier that the New City Chambers attorneys were working pro bono, with the TTFA only asked to pay for the necessary filings. The legal costs so far were all borne by the elected officials and their supporters.

However, as a parting gift, Archie and Bereaux made a substantial addition to their tab.

“TTFA will therefore pay Fifa costs for the application in high court as well as this appeal,” said the chief justice, “with the cost of this appeal to be two-thirds of the costs assessed below. In both instances, costs are certified fit for one senior [attorney] and one junior.”

The court of appeal did not accept Fifa’s argument that Wallace and his vice-presidents were not authorised to launch the legal proceedings against Fifa in the first place.

“There is no evidence before us to indicate it was not filed in accordance with the constitution of the TTFA,” said Archie.

As a result, the legal bill incurred by today’s crushing defeat could theoretically be passed on the TTFA. Whether it is Wallace and his United TTFA slate or the local football body, the bill would be daunting for either party.

Wallace, Taylor and Phillip are due to meet with the TTFA’s member delegates on Sunday in an extraordinary general meeting to decide the way forward for the local body, which is on a provisional suspension from Fifa at present.

Wallace, in an interview with the Trinidad Newsday yesterday, did not rule out a trip to the privy council if they lost at the court of appeal—although that is likely to be something that TTFA member delegates will have some say on this weekend.

‘We shall not stand in your way’ Wallace and VPs skip TTFA EGM—but have not resigned.
Wired868.com.


“[…] We remain convinced that the right to make our case, to let our voices be heard, is a basic human right.

“[…] We are acutely aware that tomorrow is promised to no one of us and that it is the membership’s right to decide on the tomorrow they desire for the TTFA. We shall not stand in your way…”

In the following press statement, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace confirms that he and vice-presidents Clynt Taylor and Sam Phillip will not attend tomorrow’s EGM, which they called—in the wake of yesterday’s legal defeat at the court of appeal:

Dear Members,

Let me start by saying that I am still quite unable to comprehend how anybody can think that what Fifa did in March 2020 is acceptable. Maybe it was desirable that those who elected us should be consulted.

Frankly, however, it never occurred to us that anyone would view Fifa’s decision to send in a normalisation committee after a mere four months of our tenure in any way different from the way we viewed it. In addition, the action directly affected the executive and to some extent brought our names into disrepute.

We remain convinced that the right to make our case, to let our voices be heard, is a basic human right. It is a right which, in our view, Fifa denied us when they abrogated their responsibility at the Court of Arbitration. We are well aware of what that action led to.

We hasten to add that we recognise the authority of the appeal court to conclude that Madame Justice Carol Gobin erred.

We take this opportunity to salute all those TTFA members who did repose confidence in us in November and have not backed away from their initial position. We salute as well as those who did but later changed their minds. We do not begrudge them their right so to do.

We also thank all those ordinary citizens of our two-island republic who have no interest in football but have been able to see that the issue goes well beyond the field of play.

Over the last seven months since March, we were fortunate to be allowed rare candid views of the TTFA as it is really seen from several other vantage points—including the international and the regional and, latterly, the judicial and the political.

That combination of different points of view, especially the political, has made it clear to my vice-presidents, Clynt Taylor and Joseph Sam Phillip, and me that our views and the views of some fraction of the membership remain at variance at this time. We are acutely aware that tomorrow is promised to no one of us and that it is the membership’s right to decide on the tomorrow they desire for the TTFA.

We shall not stand in your way.

o this end, we have decided to absent ourselves from the EGM carded for 25 October. In our view, the meeting was properly constituted and as per constitution the delegates can elect a chairperson in the absence of the president.

Rayshawn Mars, secretary and delegate of the North Zone, has agreed to provide the technical support needed to conduct the meeting. We wish you a successful meeting.

Editor’s Note: TTFA president William Wallace confirmed that the release above was not meant to be a resignation letter, as initially interpreted by Wired868. Instead, Wallace is awaiting clarity from Fifa with regards to its normalisation committee. If the normalisation committee is in place, the president was allegedly advised by attorneys that ‘the issue of resignation does not arise’.

At present, the TTFA believes that although the operations of the normalisation committee are suspended, its chairman Robert Hadad remains in place.

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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Harris happy T&T abiding by FIFA rules
« Reply #209 on: October 28, 2020, 06:17:04 AM »
Harris happy T&T abiding by FIFA rules
By Morissa Lindsay (T&T Express)


President of the Caribbean Football Union Randy Harris said he is elated with the recent decision made by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to accept the normalisation committee put in place by FIFA.

Harris said it would have been a waste and a loss to have Trinidad and Tobago suspended by FIFA bearing in mind how legendary they are as one of only two English-speaking Caribbean countries who made it to the World Cup.

This past weekend it was announced that the united TTFA voted in favour to drop the court matter against FIFA and to adhere to the normalisation committee put in place by the world governing body.

“Let me say that I am very elated that Trinidad has now made a decision that would bring them back into the Caribbean fold. I am very elated about that because I was very concerned since Trinidad is one of our gems in terms of football in the Caribbean.

“I was always worried because I knew from the beginning that we as members of FIFA agreed to stand by certain statute and regulations in the interest of the sport. One of the things you know is that we should not take matters to ordinary court and that was done and I knew that would have been a problem,” he said.

Harris added: “All of us knew from the beginning that FIFA was not saying they are higher than the law courts, in the sovereign countries. What they are saying is that if we want football to be managed by people and operating in a smooth manner, that we have to deal with our issues ourselves. I am happy that it has ended this way. I think it is a learning experience not only for the united TTFA team but for all of us as administrators.”

According to Harris, what transpired with the TTFA should not be a reflection of the entire Caribbean. He said, “One country or person in the Caribbean does not make the Caribbean. The point is that people in the Caribbean like people in Europe, North America and all over the world sometimes make decisions that they believe in and sometimes those decisions are wrong. That is not a way to judge the Caribbean.”
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

 

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