With T&T’s national footballers gearing up for a live-in camp at the Carlton Savannah and looking to head towards the hotel in Port-of-Spain, a frantic call went out advising the players to hold their hands.
The Soca Warriors are preparing for the upcoming finals of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) tournament in Jamaica starting on November 10.
The T&T Football Association (TTFA) organised a camp for the players under the watchful eyes of coach Stephen Hart from November 2 to this Saturday.
The players were due to check in on Sunday at the camp venue but it is understood that when manager of the team William Wallace tried to check-in he was denied because of outstanding monies owed to the hotel by the TTFA.
According to a source close to the situation: “The hotel was not happy with all the promises made by the TTFA for monies outstanding and they were not going to take a chance and house the players for the week. To avoid the players being embarrassed, messages were sent to them that the camp would commence from Monday morning instead.”
The source continued: “The name of the president of the TTFA, Mr Raymond Tim Kee remains good, and he’s the person the hotel would have listened to. He provided a letter of comfort to the hotel and approval was granted to the TTFA for accommodation.”
The source also said: “The manager took it upon himself to source the funds to offset the bills, which were estimated at TT$160,000.
“The manager, who has gone beyond the call of duty many times before, started to look for money. We decided not to go to the Ministry of Sport or Sportt to get funding because we told ourselves we have other bigger projects that we would need assistance for from them.
“The manager them approached NLCB and they are giving us a commitment that they would help. The bill has not yet been sorted out and for this we have to thank the Carlton Savannah for their kind assistance in this regard.
“We however understand the position they are in and we cannot blame them because of all the broken promises they have gotten from people at the TTFA.”