FOOTBALL fans I'm sure are of the view that newly-appointed coach Dutchman Leo Beenhakker has been contracted for the long term. This of course is not to say that the Trinidad and Tobago national football team will not qualify for next year's World Cup tournament in Germany, because their chance is as good as any this time around. But surely Government's intervention will be a key ingredient if they are to qualify for a World Cup finals. If not for next year, then in the future, and it calls for a significant amount of funding for the team. Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation's (TTFF) special advisor Jack Austin Warner, has made it clear he will pay the salaries of the coaches which include assistants Russell Latapy an ex-national captain and midfielder, and compatriot David Nakhid, among many others.
The local football boss gave the assurance also that salaries for his football staff will be paid only until October 12, when it will be known whether the Trinidad and Tobago team qualify for the 2006 tournament. And Warner added that his selection of the coaches has been specifically for the World Cup campaign. This means that should Trinidad and Tobago fail to secure a place in the World Cup finals, someone else will have to take up the mantle of covering coaches salaries. Or the other option is for corporate Trinidad and Tobago to come on board. But even that call for assistance from the business sector has been to the TTFF a beaten phrase, and as Warner said so many times before, only the few such as KFC, Blue Waters and TSTT, have pledged their support for the national footballers through sponsorship.
Only recently the football federation got a fairy godfather in Government who have pledged to pump approximately $18 million into football's development. Minister Roger Boynes told Newsday that part of the sponsorship has been allocated for the payment of salaries for all coaches, including the internationals. Boynes gave the assurance that Government have been working assiduosly on a holistic approach to the development of the sport in the twin-island republic. He said he will meet with members of the football federation today to finalise the agreement between the two parties, before the actual distribution of monies. Government's funding also entwines with their desire to get going a proposed national sports policy which is aimed at enhancing the development of all sports.
However, Warner made it clear that monies to be distributed by Government has been for the purpose of youth development only. He said Government never discussed anything beyond their youth development programme for which the $18 million is intended. Football federation president Oliver Camps said further, Government had pledged to fund the youth development programme, which is expected to enhance the development of the sport from the youth level to senior national level, but added that the World Cup campaign is something separate and apart. Camps added also that he does not know if Government have since changed their decision to provide monies for youth development only. Today, he said, will clarify exactly what happens with the much needed funding.