Soca Warriors management staff can now pay expenses accumulated during the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Cup Group Five qualifiers in St Kitts/Nevis earlier this month. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Ashwin Creed, yesterday revealed that the cheque to cover the team’s expenses was signed and ready to be handed over.
The T&TFF had requested $423,218 in funding to cover airfare and allowances for the team during the week-long tournament. Creed said the Federation was getting the funds yesterday as everything was signed off. Included in the sum is $218,000 which is due to the players for appearance fees.
In addition, the team’s expenses in St Kitts/Nevis will also see an increase as a number of players were forced to remain on the island and had to be check back in at the Ocean Terrace Hotel, Basseterre, until Friday after failing to acquire seats on flights to return home on October 15, one day after the four-team competition ended.
Flights in and out of the islands were delayed in the light of Tropical storm Rafael which threatened the area. In fact, only ten members of the 27-member contingent were able to secure seats on the original flight back home, while the others came home two and three days later.
Reached for a comment on the funds to cover the team’s extended stay in St Kitts, team manager William Wallace said he was in the process of preparing the financial statements to take to the ministry today.
“We are still awaiting some invoices from the hotel in St Kitts/Nevis for the extra period we stayed. “They have not send them to us as yet. We are hoping that by this afternoon, we will get everything so that we can take the financial statements to the Ministry of Sport.”
Asked the cost of the team’s preparations and stay in St Kitts/Nevis inclusive of the extended days, Wallace said the figure is just over $300,000 with stipends for the players still to be paid.
Wallace added that the team’s technical staff was also in the process of finalising the budget preparation for the second round qualifiers against Cuba, Suriname and the runner-up of Group Two (Guyana, St Vincent/Grenadines, St Lucia and Curacao) from November 14 to 18.
“We are very much contemplating playing the second round qualifying group in Tobago so we will have to add in other expenses like air travel before we submit the final budget.”
Earlier this month, the Jan-Michael Williams-skippered Soca Warriors clobbered Anguilla 10-0, French Guiana (4-1) and host St Kitts/Nevis (1-0) to finish with maximum nine points and advance to the second round from which the top two teams will advance to the finals carded for Antigua and Barbuda in December.