Warriors to be paid after TTFA board meeting

At least so said national team manager Williams Wallace yesterday. 

The players, through a statement from their captain Kenwyne Jones last week, threatened to withdraw their services for the Copa America play-off with Haiti in Panama City in January if outstanding monies are not paid. But Wallace said yesterday that he has been keeping the players abreast of the situation, claiming they agreed initially that the association could not pay for the friendly encounter with Nicaragua at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, on October 13, but would have paid them for the Guatemala and USA matches, which they agreed to. 

The players were to be paid from gate receipts from the USA/T&T match at the stadium, which according to former president of the football association Raymond Tim Kee, was expected to generate approximately $2 million. But to date football association officials are still attempting to collect monies from the ticket outlets, some three weeks after. 

Other setbacks include the delivery of a post-dated cheque by a well-known ticket outlet which has confused the association, as well as changes in the signatories at the T&TFA which resulted from the change in administration. 

Wallace said this information was communicated to the players. He said when told that the board of directors would have to sit on the issue before payments could be made, the players decided to take action. “They see it as a deliberate attempt to delay the payment,” Wallace said. In the past the involvement of the board of directors on payment of match fees was a no-no.”

The board is expected to meet on Wednesday to address this issue following which cheques will be sent to the players’ accounts. Wallace has given the players the assurance that the monies will be paid and added that he is optimistic that a resolution will be met after the board meeting. He also sought to clear the air on payments owed to the players, saying no monies were owed to the players for the Concacaf Gold Cup but rather for the USA and Guatemala matches. 

In a release last week, John-Williams gave the assurance that his association was committed to paying the players. However he expressed concern at the way things were done by the previous administration and questioned why monies from ticket outlets had not yet been collected. 

John-Williams said he knew that a promised was made to pay the players on November 19 by the association but that was before he took office. The Guardian later tried to contact John-Williams about the involvement of the board of directors in the payments but calls to his cell phone went unanswered. 

Meanwhile national coach Stephen Hart, who had to whisk back home to Canada due to an emergency, said yesterday that he has been in touch with the players about the issue but made it clear he could not tell the players what to do. He said further that the players did not want him involved. Asked if he had been paid, Hart said no. 

“I have spoken with John-Williams about my payment and other matters and by Wednesday I will know more about it,” Hart said. It is understood that none of the staff has been paid.  

In an earlier report, former president Raymond Tim Kee said a gentleman’s agreement was made with the players to be paid from the November 17 game against the USA. He said this was normal.

He said when he took office, he met that system. “Because of our debt, we could not offer the players signed contracts since there was no guarantee of payments afterwards, and therefore that could have led to lawsuits,” Tim Kee explained.

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TTFA vows to pay Warriors ‘as soon as practicable’; explains delay.
By Lasana Liburd (wired868).

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) promised to satisfy its debt to the men’s senior national players as “soon as it was practicable” but stopped short of giving a deadline for a resolution.

The TTFA executive committee, which is now headed by president David John-Williams, held an emergency meeting this evening to address a press release by team captain Kenwyne Jones, on behalf of his squad, which warned that the “Soca Warriors” will not travel to face Haiti in a Copa América Centenario Play Off on 8 January 2016 unless they were paid outstanding match fees.

The Warriors are owed fees for 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Guatemala and the United States, last month, as well as for an October friendly against Nicaragua and their CONCACAF 2015 Gold Cup quarterfinal fixture against Panama.

But the Williams-led TTFA warned that the players would not be paid until the football body was in a financial position to do so.

“We appreciate the frustration of the players and we are endeavouring to address the position as soon as is practicable,” stated the TTFA release. “Our ability to address the plight of all the people we owe is a function of the TTFA being in the financial position so to do.”

It is uncertain how the TTFA’s response would go down with the players, who argued that, as the main draw for a near sold out Hasely Crawford Stadium on November 17, they should have been the first to be paid.

The TTFA countered that the Warriors, as professional athletes, were “not out of pocket.”

“Please note that the players are not out of pocket,” stated the TTFA. “As is the norm, they continue to receive their club salary. And all the costs they incurred when representing the national team, such as flight, accommodation, meals and sundry expenses, have been met by the TTFA.”

The local football body further asserted its intention to “correct” the current policy for match fees and referred to the absence of a written policy on the matter to be a serious oversight.

The Warriors have already suggested they would resist any attempt to make payments based on international experience, on the grounds that all players should put in an equal shift for an equal pay.

Williams and his vice-presidents, Ewing Davis, Joanne Salazar and Allan Warner, did not suggest specifically what the new match contracts would look like. But they declared that change was in the air.

“Based on our findings to date, it appears that match fees are not a function of experience, number of appearances at national level, time on the field, or category of staff,” stated the TTFA. “This will be corrected as we go forward, and more specifically the policy will include an undertaking with respect to the timely payment of sums due.”

The executive committee stressed that it has only been in office for 10 working days and is trying to come to terms with the issues facing the football body.

“Our progress has been severely hampered by the lack of documentation, poor record-keeping and the inability to collect monies due for gate receipts,” said the TTFA. “This also applies to this situation, apparently it has been custom and practice to operate in accordance with oral agreements, in many cases the parties often lacked the authority to commit the organisation.

“This places the new administration in the position of having to locate the parties to the said oral agreements, not unsurprisingly, their recall of the circumstances and what was agreed to is both inconsistent and contradictory.”

Williams previously told Wired868 that some of the payment received from ticket outlets for the November 17 World Cup qualifier came in the form of post-dated cheques.

The TTFA warned the players that: “this could take some time to unravel.”

But the football body also vowed that its future operations will mirror the best run companies and urged players to help the TTFA to create a positive image that will improve its ability to raise income.

“The affairs of the TTFA will be conducted internally, mindful that to do otherwise, risks negatively impacting the reputation and credibility of the organisation,” stated the release. “This in turn negatively impacts the TTFA’s ability to attract income, and consequently, the TTFA’s ability to fund and develop football in Trinidad and Tobago.

“We look forward to building a constructive and collaborative relationship with all our national players and would request that, from time to time, should they have a grievance, they take all steps to ensure that it is brought to the attention of those in the TTFA that have the authority to addresses the issue.”

The football body ended by applauding Jones and an unnamed player, believed to be Central FC captain and goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams, for taking the lead in representing the Warriors. And said it look forward to reaching an “amicable solution” to the impasse.

“We applaud the initiative taken by the players to appoint representatives,” stated the TTFA, “and look forward to working with those representatives, once they have been duly authorised, in writing, to negotiate on behalf of the players.

“We are committed to arriving at an amicable solution as soon as possible.”

Full TTFA release:

On the evening of December 10, 2015, it was brought to our attention that the players on the Trinidad & Tobago Senior Men’s national team had issued a press release.

The Press Release stated that the players decided that if selected for the 2016 COPA America qualifier scheduled for January 8, 2016 in Panama City, they will not take the field. This was underlined by one of the senior players, during his participation in a radio programme, confirming the origin and content of the said press release. The reason cited for the players adopting this position is the fact that they are owed monies that they were promised months ago for representing our country.

We appreciate the frustration of the players and we are endeavouring to address the position as soon as is practicable. Our ability to address the plight of all the people we owe is a function of the TTFA being in the financial position so to do.

Since we were elected to office on November 29, 2015, some ten (10) working days ago, we have been working assiduously to establish the financial position of the TTFA. In doing so our progress has been severely hampered by the lack of documentation, poor record-keeping and the inability to collect monies due for gate receipts.

This also applies to this situation, apparently it has been custom and practice to operate in accordance with oral agreements, in many cases the parties often lacked the authority to commit the organisation. This places the new administration in the position of having to locate the parties to the said oral agreements, not unsurprisingly, their recall of the circumstances and what was agreed to is both inconsistent and contradictory.

Although this could take some time to unravel, please note that the players are not out of pocket. As is the norm, they continue to receive their club salary and all the costs they incurred when representing the national team, such as flight, accommodation, meals and sundry expenses, have been met by the TTFA.

Having said all the above, the absence of a policy governing the entitlement to match fees is also a serious oversight. For instance, based on our findings to date it appears that match fees are not a function of experience, number of appearances at national level, time on the field, or category of staff. This will be corrected as we go forward, and more specifically the policy will include an undertaking with respect to the timely payment of sums due.

In future, the operational protocol of the new administration will mirror that of the best run companies. The affairs of the TTFA will be conducted internally, mindful that to do otherwise, risks negatively impacting the reputation and credibility of the organisation. This in turn negatively impacts the TTFA’s ability to attract income, and consequently, the TTFA’s ability to fund and develop football in Trinidad & Tobago.

We look forward to building a constructive and collaborative relationship with all our national players and would request that, from time to time, should they have a grievance, they take all steps to ensure that it is brought to the attention of those in the TTFA that have the authority to addresses the issue.

We applaud the initiative taken by the players to appoint representatives and look forward to working with those representatives, once they have been duly authorised, in writing, to negotiate on behalf of the players.

We are committed to arriving at an amicable solution as soon as possible.