THE Tobago Football Association (TFA) is describing the lengthy repairs to the Dwight Yorke Stadium as “a nightmare.”
The stadium, which is named after Tobago’s premier footballer Dwight Yorke, has been under repair for some time now.
The project, which had an initial budget of $10 million, should have been completed by March 2013. But, it has faced delays because of a funding shortfall by Central Government. Repairs were to include a new drainage system on the athletic track and field and the laying of a new football field and athletic track.
The stadium is managed by the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago, an agency of the Ministry of Sport.
The TFA says it uses the venue to generate revenue, and delays in the repairs are causing problems. According to the President of the TFA, Raymond Alleyne, the stadium is “the only venue in Tobago where we as an association can appropriately organise to collect revenue from games; there are serious logistical issues at all other venues.”
He says other grounds, like the Cyd Gray Sports Complex at Roxborough, are unsuitable, noting that “the playing surface (at Cyd Gray) has not been prepared for the past two years.”
More than 25 teams from across Tobago participate in the Tobago Football Association competition, which usually starts in June. This year, with the possible addition of women and youth competitions, the number of teams is expected to increase. The addition of new teams to the TFA’s competition means an increase in administrative cost for the organisation.
Alleyne says that while the Tobago House of Assembly’s Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport pays the prizes for the competition and referees’ stipend, it is the TFA which has to fund the cost of administration.
“Prizes for last year’s competition were just over $250,000 per year, so we therefore, need some form of generating revenue to assist us in meeting our administrative cost,” he explains.
Alleyne is convinced that, “as the most popular sport on the island, football plays an important role in helping to stabilise the social fabric of Tobago by giving the youths a positive alternative in life.”