Clevon Raphael - TT Guardian
Convinced that it is no aberration that Trinidad and Tobago has qualified for the World Cup finals in Germany next year, Austin Jack Warner has already kicked off preparations for this country to compete in the 2010 finals in South Africa.
Q: What is this I am hearing... You have begun planning for World Cup
2010 in South Africa?
A: (Seated in his high-backed executive chair at his Concacaf office, early Friday morning). That is correct. I mean we cannot sit on this qualification for Germany as an aberration.
But how much can we bear at one time? And we are still celebrating this sweet victory?
Well, as George Chambers said, fete over and is back to work now. And we have to plan for several things on the road to Germany, including seven international matches next year...
Getting back to Bahrain; How did you feel when that final whistle was blown on Wednesday?
(A sombre expression). You know, there are some things you can describe and others you cannot. I cannot find the exact words to describe how I felt then, except to say that a burden was lifted off my shoulders.
I began to cry, and I was crying profusely. I went into the dressing room, hoping to dry my eyes before I reached there, and I met a whole room of players crying also. We all hugged ourselves and cried like crazy... It was a sea of tears.
I mean with all the perspiration, the sweat and tears, there was one sea of tears. It is the kind of thing you have to see to describe.
Was part of that burden the criticisms you have been enduring all these years?
Well, yes. You know sometimes I put on a very tough posture, even though I am hurting underneath, and I have been in the football field so to speak, for 32 years.
I have been persevering, trying to capture this day, because I have always been of the view that a country’s size should not militate against its presence in a World Cup final. And I proved that as a small country we can do it. We did it with the smallest budget as well—under US$5 million.
So, in some ways I feel vindicated.
Sponsorship from the private sector has been a problem for football in this country. Do you think with this victory, things would change?
I could only hope so, because all the sponsors we have now could be counted on one hand, and that is not a good sign. Look at the kind of euphoria we are going through at this moment.
This whole event has transcended politics, race, class, creed, and it is the kind of catalyst we need to have, the kind of society that we all yearn for.
We know you have personally dug into your pockets to get us to where we are today. How much have you spent?
(Elbow on desk and a slight rub of his chin). Well, I would not talk about the 32 years, but over the last four years, I have spent $20 million. At the end of the day, it has been tremendous, because it is not that I have it all to spend.
But if you want good results you have to travel business class, you have to stay at five-star hotels. That is the least we can do to make our teams comfortable. Look at Bahrain; we had two cooks from Port-of-Spain with us...
And these are people who know the players’ diet... how to prepare their meals and so on, because the players come first.
Do you expect to recover any of this money, and if the answer is no, why are you putting out all of that money?
Let me tell you something (clearing his throat). Football, in some ways, has been kind to me, and I made the decision a long time ago with my family that within the limits of our resources, I will give back to football all that I can. And there is no secret that I am not able to give much more again, and that is why I have told Mr Beenhakker that I will guarantee his salary until next July, but if government comes up, fine.
And the players?
Yes. And I will also tell you that I will guarantee them for their efforts at qualifying a maximum of US$100,000 and the minimum of US$30,000.
From your own pockets, Mr Warner?
If it comes to that, yes. The fact is I felt they were giving of their best, their all, and they must not feel inferior to any other football player.
You are keeping your promise, even though you severely criticised the team drawing with Bahrain in Port-of-Spain?
Yes. But I did not understand the rationale behind their performance. I subsequently spoke with the technical staff, and I was told some of our players had seven yellow cards and they did not want to go on the field and jeopardise their chances of getting into the finals.
If they got one more yellow card, they would not have been able to go to Bahrain, and therefore they played tentatively. The yellow cards are accumulated and you could be penalised when you cross a certain threshold.
I did not understand that at the time when I made that statement, but I understood their tactic afterwards.
Did you at anytime, Mr Warner, even last Wednesday, have any doubts we were going to Germany?
(With a negative shake of his head). Not at all. And I must thank the Lord, because I am a praying man and I have to thank Bertille Sr Clair publicly for his contribution, because he tried his best but he could not deliver, so I had to go outside.
At the welcoming ceremony on Thursday, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said he never thought he would have been on the same platform with you, alluding to your politics. How did you take that jab?
(Smiling). I laughed, and I felt he was in good form and I did not say it then, but I saying it now; one day he would be on my platform (laughs).
What is your take on this perceived delay by the Government to reward the team on its sterling effort?
(An indifferent shrug). I am quite sure they will do something, and out of respect I think he (Manning) wants to include Dwight Yorke on the discussions.
I would also ask the Prime Minister to include a representative of the Football Federation as well, out of respect.
Milling around at the airport on Thursday, I heard some people criticising government for hogging the spotlight, when the State was very lax in coming up with financial assistance?
(A heavy frown). I try my best to be positive and I, too, was disappointed, and I leave it at that. What I would tell you is that the funding we have received from Government and corporate Trinidad and Tobago has been the lowest in the world for any World Cup qualifying team, and we cannot do well in the finals with that kind of funding.
What does going to Germany mean, in terms of the development of the game in this country?
This victory should give Trinidad and Tobago a sense of hope, in terms of turning it around in a positive way, to unify this country once again as it has done over the last three days.
In terms of development, it should force us to lay the foundation for our Under-17 team, for our Under-14 team, and most importantly, we have to begin to prepare for 2010.
Oh, yes, what have you been doing in this direction?
I have asked Sedley Joseph to head Task Force 2010, to devise ways and means, so we can begin to lay the groundwork for South Africa.
For more than 100 years, the African continent never hosted a World Cup final, and the first one in South Africa, we have to be there. Sedley and his team have to sit down and plan, strategise, how we are getting there.
I have asked him to give a report in one week and we would do whatever it costs to get us there because, I repeat, our success, now and in the future, must be based on a collective effort of all of us.
So we are on the road to South Africa?
Yes, and I will tell you this: we are going first class, as this Germany victory must not be an aberration.
