After distancing himself from the T&T Pro League for the last three years—Fifa Vice President and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation special advisor Jack Warner was full of praise for the work done by Mr. Larry Romany and the T&T Pro League.
Mr. Warner was addressing a media conference hosted by the T&T Pro League, where it was announced the Pro League will be taking over the management of the Super League—Mr. Warner thanked the League’s Chairman Larry Romany for ensuring football was kept alive in difficult times—and commended Mr. Romany for guiding the ship through rough waters.
The Concacaf President credited the T&T Pro League for the role it played in the Soca Warriors qualifying for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, saying, “Imagine from just one Pro League club, there were some eight(8) players that emerged and represented this country on the ‘Journey to Germany’—it tells you how important a role this League is playing in the general scheme of things.”
He added, “It was because of this when approached for Joe Public to join the Pro League, I never hesitated, because if we want to ensure T&T don’t follow the footsteps of Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica and qualify for the World Cup only once,” Mr. Warner continued, “If we want to qualify for the World Cup on a regular basis, we have to ensure we have a serious Professional League with all the top clubs in the country involved—a League that can sustain our local players at home.”
He used an analogy to describe the importance of a Professional League, saying—“You cannot be half-pregnant, its either you are pregnant or not—so, you just can’t want to qualify for a world cup and not have a strong Professional League—its either you want to qualify for the world cup, or not.”
He finally lauded Mr. Romany once again for finding a way to bridge the gap and seeing that the Super League and the Pro League work together and share a healthy relationship.