The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) today announced the decision of its Games Management Committee (GMC) to confirm Marisa Dick as the named Gymnastics representative to be included in the Team Trinidad and Tobago (TeamTTO) Delegation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
This decision was made after two days of intense discussion, and the consideration of submissions by several entities including the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG), the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF), and legal advice.
The process of the GMC was respectfully followed and this entails:
1) Confirmation of the eligibility of the athlete
2) Confirmation of the qualification process of FIG
It is important to note that in its submission FIG spoke to the legality of the selection of the named athlete, and noted that the name change of the TTGF representative from Thema Williams to Marisa Dick was made in accord with its regulations. In its letter dated Friday April 29th, 2016 FIG stated:
1) The dispute between Thema Williams and the TTGF is an internal affair of Trinidad and Tobago, it’s legal and sports authorities.
2) We confirm that the initial registration of Thema Williams to participate at the Qualifying Event in Rio was duly made by the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation, respecting the FIG’s rules. The place was not nominative and the Federation therefore had the free choice to select and register at their discretion.
3) We confirm that the name change from Thema Williams to Marisa Dick was duly made by the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation, respecting the FIG’s rules (including time limits) which allow such a change.
The GMC has therefore ruled that the TTOC has no choice but to include Marisa Dick in the TeamTTO Rio 2016 delegation.
In light of the ethical issues raised during the selection process the TTOC can confirm that it has invoked its authority under Clause 13 of its constitution to determine whether the TTGF has infringed the TTOC Constitution, the Olympic Charter and the International Olympic Committee’s Code of Ethics in respect of their duty to be fair.
The TTOC continues to take steps to improve sports governance in Trinidad and Tobago and notes that National Governing Bodies have a duty to be fair.