(Trinidad Guardian) Police on Wednesday carried out a court order to seize all removable assets from the Dundonald Street office of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF). The early morning raid followed the Federation’s failure to honour a High Court order to pay 13 of the players who represented T&T at the 2006 World Cup, a total of TT$4.6 million (US$724,000). The money was due on October 18, 2011 but the TTFF did not pay and failed to satisfy the players that payment was imminent when legal representatives for either party met before Justice Devindra Rampersad in the Port of Spain High Court on January 12.
The players responded with a court-appointed marshal. Brent Sancho, Cyd Gray, David Atiba Charles and Anthony Wolfe accompanied the marshal and policemen to Dundonald Street. Acting TTFF President Lennox Watson asked the players for one hour to come up with the money at around 10.15 am. However, he failed to meet the final deadline.
The court marshals packed two trucks with computers, desks, refrigerators, microwaves, uniforms, paperwork, beer crates and other sundry items from the TTFF’s base. The items are expected to be auctioned off. Sancho described the incident as an extremely sad day for football and Trinidad and Tobago sport, but said the players were left with little option.
“Just a couple of years ago, we were in the World Cup and today we are here doing this,” Sancho stated, “but we feel we had no other choice. They had every opportunity to pay this money.” Sancho claimed that over TT$100 million (US$15.6 million) in taxpayers’ money was missing and repeated a call for government intervention. He warned that the players were not done yet, either. In a release, the Federation stated that despite what had happened it will continue to function as the elected governing body for football. It noted that an order of just over TT$7 million, which was ordered by Justice Devindra Rampersad in 2011, was paid to the 13 members.
A second interim payment of TT$4.6 million which was ordered in October, has not been paid. It further stated that since the departure of former advisor Jack Warner from the TTFF, this matter has been pending and following the second court order, the TTFF had hoped that 2006 World Cup Local Organizing Committee (LOC) accounts of which Warner was the sole arbiter, would have been reconciled and payments would have been made to the players. “This unfortunately has not occurred. The TTFF on its own does not have the resources to fulfill this request for such payment.” The TTFF reiterated that as an organisation, it did not have the luxury of TT$4.6 million to pay the players but acknowledged the debt.