Federation

NO AUTHORITY

DOES William Wallace have the authority to challenge FIFA before the Trinidad and Tobago High Court?

(Reuters) - FIFA has warned Trinidad and Tobago they face suspension from international football if they pursue a dispute through the country's High Court in contravention of the world governing body's statutes.

The decision by ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his executive to pursue the ongoing dispute with FIFA at the T&T High Court can end all hopes of this nation’s 2022 World Cup qualification bid and effectively end the careers of some of T&T’s most prolific footballers.

“[…] United TTFA was not cowed by Fifa arrogance and threat—an unprecedented response from a small association. We were supposed to walk. The normalisation committee was supposed to walk in and take over. And United TTFA was supposed to be history.

In matters of law, the most publicised cases are not necessarily the most momentous. Who would have thought that the court action brought by RFC Liège midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman against the Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL would transform football as it did after the European Court of Justice ruled in his favour on 15 December 1995?

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace said he was ‘extremely happy’ but also wary, after a significant triumph today in his case against the world governing body, Fifa.

OSMOND DOWNER has raised the point that FIFA might have flouted its own rules in its hurried removal of the William Wallace-led Trinidad and Tobago Football Association executive last March.

Caribbean Football Union (CFU) boss, Barbados Football Association president and Caribbean Football Union first vice-president, Randy Harris, believes Trinidad and Tobago Football Association will face sanction from FIFA, following the landmark decision handed down in the High Court here this week against the powerful world governing body.