Local football needs better leadership.

[Flex]

Divided T&TFF stand.[/size]

Local football needs better leadership.

Lasana Liburd offers his insight into the direction to be taken.

FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) special adviser Jack Warner seems drunk with power.
The symptoms have been obvious for some time now. There are Warner's obviously reduced inhibitions and exaggerated posturing, and worrying penchant for tall tales like the alleged assault suffered at the hands of a BBC news team and the frequency with which he paints perceived critics as government operatives.
Warner, the country's most famous and celebrated administrator, could be the bee who drowned in honey.
Normal men are accountable for their actions. Sir Isaac Newton's golden law of physics is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Yet, for decades, Warner has defied the odds as he emerged with empire-if not quite reputation-intact from a series of public relation crashes that would have spelt doom for your average public figure.
In 1979 when, as the newly-appointed Caribbean Football Union (CFU) vice-president, Warner made his first significant step towards influence outside Trinidad and Tobago, he was already an administrator who polarised opinion in his homeland.
Twenty seven years on, he is as controversial as ever and yet his influence has grown. His powers of recovery and ability to outflank political and social opponents are remarkable. But Jack, it seems, has become inebriated by his own lack of accountability and the failure of his family, friends and associates to warn him when he began to mock the senses of his people.

And that brings us to 2007.

The T&TFF had not celebrated the anniversary of their maiden FIFA World Cup Finals senior appearance before the local sporting body issued a press release which claimed that they could no longer afford to pay their coaches.
The statement was ostensibly penned by T&TFF general secretary Richard Groden, but it is highly unlikely that it could have been made public without Warner's agreement-if only because the FIFA bigwig was the chairman of the 2006 World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) that were said to have collected upwards of $150 million in sponsorship money, exclusive of television rights.
In an effort to draw a parallel, onlookers are advised to look at regional neighbour, Jamaica.
Jamaica were the first member of the English-speaking Caribbean to participate at a senior World Cup Finals when the "Reggae Boyz" made their bow at France 1998. Within three years, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Horace Burrell was removed from office at the association's elections amidst allegations of mismanaging the resources that flooded the organisation following their success.
And yet, the T&TFF stand unabashed with palm outstretched after a mere eight months.
Surely, Warner does not expect to do an "Oliver Twist"?
Not after his then family-owned Simpaul Travel Service and the infamous World Cup ticket fiasco. Or the refusal of the T&TFF to even disburse money promised to their players for charity, let alone the bonuses agreed upon. Not to mention the fact that the local body already have sponsors on board for the next three years, like international sport apparel firm Adidas, Carib and the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

No, No, Mr Warner!

There is a televised government advertisement in which a husband and father of two who, while driving his family home, stops at the bar for a drink. He returns to his vehicle to find his wife and children at the roadside.
In no uncertain terms, his wife told him that she would not allow him to transport his family in a drunken state and the apologetic husband relented and poured his beer into a drain.
Warner's climb to power may appear to have been aided by colleagues unwilling or incapable of finding fault with the direction of the driver. But the failure of T&TFF president Oliver Camps, general secretary Groden and his other partners to advise Warner to take stock, could be his undoing.
Less than three months after the 2006 tournament, the T&TFF had already alienated their core employees.
Upset at the World Cup bonuses on offer, the "Soca Warriors" insisted on an audience with Warner but were refused. The players threatened to withhold their services and sought legal advice. The T&TFF responded by vowing to omit from national duty everyone who dared question their judgment and further destabilised the Warriors by insisting that each player indicate his stance on the matter rather than rely on the safety of the group.
The subsequent split saw illustrious team captain Dwight Yorke, vice captain Dennis Lawrence and marquee player Carlos Edwards among five players in one corner and the country's record goal scorer Stern John, first choice goalkeeper Kelvin Jack and promising striker Kenwyne Jones among the 17 dissidents in the next.
By all indications, the T&TFF are unpopular with both groups while the extent of the fall-out might already pose a significant problem for team harmony in the 2010 World Cup qualifying series. In several interviews, Edwards claimed to be singled out as a future captain and the rebel 17-John, in particular-might wonder as to the source of his information and the timing of it.
Last week, Yorke retired suddenly from international duty although he initially pledged his services for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament and had assured coach Wim Rijsbergen of his desire to help the squad through a delicate transition period.
Edwards, Yorke's teammate at England Championship Division club, Sunderland, suggested that the former Manchester United star's decision was influenced by the uncertainty of the local game.
"It is a disgrace," Edwards told T&TFF media officer Shaun Fuentes. "We made a big step forward through the World Cup and now it's like we have gone ten steps backwards I hear people talking about Carlos being the next captain but, think about it really, who wants to come back and be captain of a team where you are unsure what the future holds?
" Honestly, at this stage I don't even see us making it into the last round of six. And just like Dwight did, even though he is older than us and rightly wants to take away some of the pressure from his legs, if the support isn't there for our football and we are unsure from time to time then there are others like myself who could do just like Dwight and focus on our clubs alone."
As the T&TFF fought publicly with their own players, one might expect the organisation to be friendlier on other fronts. Yet, the failure of Warner and Groden to address the public on the issue-the general secretary has consistently refused comment, even on releases attributed to him-cannot possibly endear the body to football fans.
No normal company can survive such a bitter fall-out with employees and consumers. But sport is a different type of business.
A Trinidad and Tobago fan, for instance, can hardly turn his nose up at his country and pledge allegiance to Jamaica in the way a consumer can snub Mabel's for Matouk's. National pride and regional loyalty are burdens suffered by supporters alone.
But to antagonize one's sponsors, even in this field, is an unnecessarily risky show of bravado.
Carib public relations manager, Collin Murray, discovered in the press, like the rest of the country, that the T&TFF had suspended all their national teams apart from the under-17s "with immediate effect until further notice". He, like the other long term sponsors, was not even afforded a courtesy 'phone call.
Murray is confident that the T&TFF will sort out their problems soon, but who knows what Adidas is thinking? The renowned firm, according to international sources, was not amused at the fact that its four-year deal with the Warriors has become a matter for contention.
In December 2005, the T&TFF announced that they signed a $71.9 million deal (US$11.5 million) with Adidas but, less than a year later, claimed it was just $1.8 million. An insider within the sport apparel industry insisted that both figures were well below the market value for such a venture.
Sport Minister Roger Boynes also wondered at the aggressive attitude of the T&TFF towards their main sponsor and, in an election year, it would not have escaped him that Warner is also the deputy political leader of the Opposition party.
Warner has refused to yield ground but he is in danger of toppling over and taking local football-or at least the country's immediate World Cup aspirations-with him.
Jamaica saw the unsettling signs of its own football chief, Burrell, and ousted him after a vote by their clubs. Today, the JFA have Bora Milutinovic, the world's most successful nomadic coach, at the helm of their technical staff and are preparing for another successful World Cup push.
It is not so easy to remove the T&TFF's executive committee.
The zonal associations and various national bodies, rather than the clubs, wield voting power in Trinidad and Tobago and it would take extraordinary unity on their part to usher in a new dispensation.
But it is not always best to do nothing. Not when the driver seems to be a law unto himself and the passengers are at each other's throat.
For now, the T&TFF stand divided, butut surely this cannot continue to be so.

[Themanfriday]

Man that was a good read. Long though

[fatman]

no more needs to be said,those who have ears to hear and eyes to see can be educated.we must not allow ourselves to lose sight of the real issues.forget who invested money and whether or not we make another world cup,there  are more important issues at hand.

[g]

There is no escape.

[Sam]

Excellent write up Lasana, keep beating de horse Jack will fall one day and take his crew and FIFA with him.

[grskywalker]

Excellent article Lisana, very accurate indeed. I believe that so many qualified people out there would gladly take over the reigns of TTFF but to deal with Jack you need eyes behind your head. I have never seen a company so error prone, where accountability just goes out the window when backed into a corner.

Bigger entities such as ENRON collapsed, after years of lies and deceit to the very people they employed, it's executives either in prison or soon to be convicted and then there is TTFF who are a drop in the bucket compared to ENRON but whose lies and deceit to the nation has gone unabated, untouched and unreachable for decades. Yes there are points of success but it's overall performance and dictatorship over National teams echoes the persecution by the likes of Stalin, Hitler, Noriega. While it may seem extreme to draw this comparison the actions of the TTFF leave everyone to wonder what the hell is going on and why have these people not been fired or removed and most importnantly, "WHERE WE MONEY GONE!"

[WestCoast]

being today is the Ides of March
maybe some one in the TTFF could be a "figurative" Brutus, ET TU?

[truetrini]

allyuh remember this?

http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=8084.msg67437#msg67437

Author  Topic: Are we going to see a more transparent TTFF now?  (Read 156 times) 
truetrini
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Hero Warrior

 Online

Posts: 5086


Location: Virginia USA
Conscience...is lacking from T&T's soul!

 
     Are we going to see a more transparent TTFF now?
« on: November 23, 2005, 11:27:02 AM »     

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The TTFF has been notoriously opaque when it comes to how it handles its finances.

Are things going to improve now that we have made it to the Big Boys club or is it going to be more of the same?

are we going to see a detailed plan on how the US $10,000,000 will be used to develop football in T&T as well as how we are going to prepare the team?

Jack is sure to use his influence to get us some big games, that much he has alluded to...but will those games actually cost us or will he be using his influence to get them pro-bono?

I am also curious on how money already allocated is being spent.

The $16,000,000 given to the TD for youth development...how is that being handled?

The money the government just gave...where are the receipts?  and the money made from teh game?

In all the euphoria....let us NOT forget accountability.

Manning talks about 2020..well lets not use hindsight ok?

Show me where the $$$$$ going and do it NOW!
I am tired ah de jack in de box bullshit
 
 Report to moderator    71.241.27.108 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Greatest want 
 
 

[pardners]

Ah know Lisana does visit the forum eh, but ah wonder if he does posts too 

Anyway, the man hear we cry and answer in the way he know best  !!!

[elan]

The two sides of Jack Warner
Ian Burnett
Saturday, February 26, 2005

Bridgetown, Barbados - Based on what I've observed over the past two FIFA presidential elections, world football is big politics, and apparently that has been adopted at the regional level.

The name Austin "Jack" Warner resonates throughout the Caribbean. Indeed, Warner is president of Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), and a vice-president of FIFA.

The power he wields in regional football is unbelievable. He speaks with a level of authority and finality that is second to none, and one can't help but sense fear among regional heads when he is around.

Having heard rumblings that Jamaica could lose the benefit of the FIFA Goal Project because of tardiness, and that the thorny issue of TV rights was to be raised by the Jamaican delegation of president Crenston Boxhill, second deputy president Linnel McLean and general secretary Burchell Gibson at the CFU ordinary congress on Sunday, a colleague and I requested and received permission to attend the congress at the Lodge Hill Hotel.

During the congress, which was attended by 28 of the 30 countries, the issue of TV rights was raised by the president, who stated that forms had been sent to the various countries to be signed and returned, but not all countries had complied with the request.

He declared in no uncertain manner that there was "nothing to hide", and that the current structure of the TV rights deal was best for the Caribbean countries as a group.
He said that the proposal for the 2010 World Cup was that the rights be sold to Traffic Sports for US$2 million, up from US$900,000 for the 2006 World Cup.

The FIFA vice-president recommended that the marketing departments of CONCACAF and the CFU meet and work out the best possible deal for the region, before he opened the floor to any dissenting voice. No one voiced any objection.
After the congress, my colleague and I managed to pin down the regional boss for an interview, relating to all matters concerning Jamaica and its football.

It was at this time that Warner reported that there were some problems, created by the long delay in having the Goal project started. He said he was travelling to Zurich for a meeting with the Goal Project committee in an effort to "salvage" the project on Jamaica's behalf.

He explained that under the Goal Bureau rules, FIFA could take back the project and give it to another country.
On the subject of TV rights, he declared that he "had no problem with any of the other countries." and that "no countries shall be allowed to breach any decision taken by the congress as far as TV rights are concerned".

He spoke about hearing "some rumblings in Jamaica" and that he was "disappointed and annoyed" with what he read and heard, but after speaking to JFF president Crenston Boxhill and his colleagues, who had "denied what I heard", he put the issue to rest and hoped never to raise it again.
On the proposed sale of the JFF building, the president was very clear. He said he would not allow that to happen to any country in the Caribbean, or even CONCACAF.

"No country in CONCACAF will be allowed to sell its heritage, the legacy that it has, not even to lease and rent back. it would be a failure on my part if I were to let this happen," he said.

The FIFA vice president further revealed that something must be wrong when every country in the region, which is eligible for the FIFA hurricane relief funds, was paid, except Jamaica.

He said he couldn't understand why Jamaica was taking so long to access the money that is there. According to the president, he was told that some documentation was needed to complete the process, and as such he committed himself to meeting with Boxhill to see what the problems were and how he could help because if the money was not accepted now, it would go back to FIFA. "The sea is full of water, you never carry water back to the sea," he said, referring to FIFA's wealth. "FIFA doesn't need the money. Jamaica needs it and if the money goes back to FIFA, that can't make sense."And while refusing to point an accusatory finger, Warner said: "All I would say is that I expected better."

The interview with the CONCACAF and CFU head seemed fairly straightforward.That was until president Boxhill painted a very different picture after meeting with Warner less than 24 hours after the interview with the Jamaican media.

"Talking to the president today (Monday) we definitely didn't get any such impression," Boxhill claimed. "He (Warner) told us that there was no way that Jamaica could lose that project, and that there was nothing for us to worry about. we are to just go ahead and do what we are doing and if we have any problems, feel free to call him at any time. And the same thing applies to the Hurricane relief fund," said a somewhat perplexed Boxhill.

Sources close to the JFF have hinted that all the fuss about the threat of losing the Goal Project and hurricane relief fund was all a bluff, since members of the JFF had openly questioned the whole concept of the sale of the region's TV rights to Traffic Sports.

One view espoused by the JFF is that it could benefit much more from handling its own TV rights, as opposed to the collective deal being struck by the CFU.

"I am quite satisfied," Boxhill said about the meeting with Warner. "We spoke about the financial problem that we are having and he (Warner) even gave us some advice and suggestions. We spoke about the TV rights, we made some suggestions and he said he figured they were good suggestions and that they would be looked into, so all in all I am satisfied that the discussions we had with president Warner were quite fruitful," reiterated the local football boss, who added that it came as a shock to him when he heard about the possible threat of losing the Goal Project and hurricane relief grant.
And even regarding the JFF headquarters, the source claimed that the regional boss had suggested that it could be used to generate money for the federation through rental, lease etc, a far cry from his emphatic tone the previous day.

Thankfully, the adherence to basic journalistic tenets led me to the JFF, and then to Harold Taylor, the FIFA Development Officer for the region. By then the story was obvious - contradictory, to say the least. Taylor stated in no uncertain manner that the projects were never in danger of being lost.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20050225T190000-0500_75782_OBS_THE_TWO_SIDES_OF_JACK_WARNER.asp

[weary1969]

My only pronlem with the article is the title "new leadership". He implying that it have leadership now. It have some krooks and bandits who lining they pocket.