Warner tells Boynes on Warriors' World Cup funding
Kern De Freitas
Wednesday, January 4th 2006
The Government is no longer under any obligation to contribute financially to the Trinidad and Tobago "Soca Warriors" 2006 World Cup campaign.
So said FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) special adviser Jack Warner as he addressed the issue of the national team's World Cup budget at a news conference at the Crowne Plaza yesterday.
The Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs last week issued a release stating they were yet to receive any indication as to the expected expenditure for the team for the World Cup in Germany in June.
But Warner told the audience yesterday that Sport Minister Roger Boynes is part of "Operation Get Warner" and has tried to discredit him (Warner) by giving the impression of his and the Federation's tardiness with the budget.
"I wish to advise Minister Boynes that, if he can, he should not let others push him into behaving as 'boyishly'," Warner said.
"The simple fact," he continued, "is that no budget could have sensibly been prepared unless all the facts and figures are available, where, by and large, they now are."
"I want to say now, very publicly, that I have spoken to the Federation, and the executive has agreed that this Soca Warriors team...the Government will no longer have to put any money in it.
"The team has reached this far without Government funding and the team shall reach that far the same way. And the Minister will be so advised tomorrow.
"If he wishes to, he can still pay the coaches their salaries, retroactively, hopefully.
"But I'll tell the Minister that we have agreed to pay the footballers US$20,000 as a minimum to US$100,000 as a maximum."
Warner also suggested any Government payments to the players be made to them directly, and they should at least match what the TTFF is awarding the senior national team.
"The sum allocated to the team is US$1.4 million. Ask the Minister to even match that, and add in piece of land if he wants to. But the time has come to tell the team something. Because even the losing country, Bahrain, they have gotten theirs."