Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee has dismissed accusations that he has been taking advice from former T&T Football Association president David John-Williams (DJW) during his management of the football association.
The claims were made during an interview with Ramesh Ramdhan, the football association general secretary on Monday, who accused Hadad of unfair treatment as he attempts to receive outstanding salaries from the normalisation committee for the past six months.
The former T&T and FIFA referee appears to have been the only member of the T&TFA administrative staff who is yet to receive his wages while the other staff members have been paid. Ramdhan said, apart from not getting paid his salaries, he did not get a reason for the delay.
Ramdhan has since threatened to write to the FIFA to inform them about the situation, as well as take legal action against Hadad, a director of the HADCO Group of Companies, and the normalisation committee, which also comprises former banker Nigel Romano and attorney Judy Daniel.
However, during an interview with Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday, Hadad, the chairman of the normalsiastion committee which is responsible for the governance of T&T football since March 27 with a mandate to: Run the TTFA'S daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA, and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year, has made it clear that he has not been taking advice from John-Williams, but was conducting his investigation into the state of football in the country.
"I am speaking to David and William (former president William Wallace) because a lot of the decisions they made, when I am investigating, I need to speak to them. I need to ask them questions on the Home of Football. David specifically, has a lot of questions to answer. So to say I am taking advice from him, that's not true."
The T&T football boss also responded to concerns by Ramdhan that he is not being paid, Haded responded by saying that he has to ensure that every claim is legal and legitimate. A concern that was raised by the Board of Directors of the T&TFA which did not approve the two-year contract that was arranged by then TTFA president William Wallace.
According to Hadad, Ramdhan is one of many asking for monies he believes is owed to him. Everybody who is owed money, has a legitimate claim and I am bombarded by a lot of people in the payables, so a lot of people have been asking about the money we owe them and he (Ramdhan) is one of them. We have to investigate the legality and legitimacy of every claim, and until I verify every one individually. So, coaches, we are in the process right now. Just like I said with the admin staff, we were in the process and we are in the process. But this is not an overnight process. It takes a while to verify it. You need to interview people one by one and unfortunately, even part of that interview process we have to go through the legitimacy of it."
Ramdhan said, "The United TTFA administration was also bombarded by people, but I am not in that category. I gave my service of self secretary for the performance of a duty, a constitutional duty, and I belong to the staff, I am the head of the secretariat. I have never bombarded you. In fact, I have never even asked about my salary."