In spite of positive results on the field of play, members of the executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) have agreed to take a stance against the administration of the sport.
Vice presidents Lennox Watson, Rudolph Thomas and Krishendath Kuarsingh as well as other executive members Roland Forde, Neville Ferguson and Richard Kwan Chan, in a penned letter to the media, stated that they have lost confidence in president Raymond Tim Kee.
They described the administration of the sport over the past three years as the lowest it has ever been due to presidential incompetence and lack of consultation with executive committee members and/or the Emergency Committee of the T&T Football Association on critical issues.
The executive members also highlighted a number critical decisions made by the embattled football association president that derailed their confidence in him.
These include: Alleged payment to the president’s son for providing a TTFA website without consultation and agreement of the executive committee and or the emergency committee; Illegal and unconstitutional dismissal of the general secretary of the TTFA; Taking unilateral decisions with regards to matters pertinent to the TTFA and in such circumstances, failure of the president to convene one single meeting of the Emergency Committee, of which he is the chairman to address such matters.
The decisions also included; Failure of the president to convene one single meeting of the Finance and Marketing Committee and/or the Fundraising Committee of the TTFA; Failure of the president to ensure Audited Financial statements for the last three years, taking into consideration possible strategies to do so, as advised by Robert Reis of KPMG; Failure of the president to ensure a strategic plan for the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago over a ten year period is produced; Not providing relevant, timely and appropriate Financial statements over the last three years leading to the uncertainty surrounding the indebtedness of the Association, to the extent that the association may be bankrupt; Under Tim Kee the Standing Committees system has failed to function; Not addressing in a timely manner a threat by the FIFA to institute disciplinary charges against the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association for failure to adhere to a FIFA mandate to pay former National Women’s coach Evan Pellerud.
Watson said the decision by the executive is a bold move to save the sport of football from a certain suspension by the world governing body- FIFA. This letter was sent out to all stakeholders of football in T&T, as well as the FIFA. “We must understand that we are in a crisis situation and it is critical that the FIFA knows so that extreme measures are not taken against us” Watson explained yesterday.
A reliable source, however, told the T&T Guardian that there are attempts to ensure that the November 29 elections do not come off as expected. And if this happens it can spell danger for T&T as its executive members are to be compliant with the FIFA if they are to be allowed to vote at the FIFA Congress.
According to the source if they do not vote it would mean an immediate ban for the executives from the FIFA which would lead to no representation for T&T at the FIFA level.
The Guardian questioned Watson about the time frame given to the TTFA to be compliant and he said “TTFA executives have been given a certain period of tyime to be compliant by the FIFA and that time is November 30. If we are not compliant by then, we will be given another 18 months before the FIFA will intervene and throw us out as members.
Now after watching the game on Friday night I am sure that the TTFA being thrown out will hurt all the players who played and all other players throughout T&T and therefore what we are trying to do now is to do damage control before it becomes worse” Watson said.
Meanwhile, Watson added also that the world governing body for football had ordered the TTFA to make payment of well over $200, 000 to Pellerud- the United States coach who was at the helm of the TT women’s team for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in 2010 from September 5- 25. That order was not adhered to.
The T&TFA vice president has made it quite clear he will want nothing to do with T&T football after the coming annual general meeting (AGM) and Election of Officer on November 29 because of the destruction to the sport by Tim Kee.
Contacted Tim Kee said he was not surprised by the actions of his executives. “They are the ones who have criticised me when I took up office in 2012 and therefore they have been very consistent. I can tell you though that they are the ones from the Jack Warner era who are oppose to change and who do not want the sport to progress” Tim Kee said.