PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC– Members of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2006 World Cup squad are threatening to return to court after the country’s Football Association fell behind on a payment schedule designed to honour a longstanding pay dispute.
“The players are now getting together to instruct (local attorney) Dave De Peiza to bring the matter back to court to enforce the debt.” the player’s London-based attorney, Michael Townley revealed.
Some 13 players were owed nearly TT 12 million dollars after the UK-based Sports Dispute Resolution Panel (SPDR) and later the Trinidad and Tobago High Court ruled in their favour in a legal impasse with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF). An out-of-court settlement to pay in several tranches was reached last May however, players are now complaining that the TTFA is five months late in the second of five payments.
“We are owed over half of the sum due since the 1st of September although we have been promised that several times since then from several different sources,” Townley told Wired868.
“According to the schedule, the players were due their second tranche on the 1st of September but less than half of that was paid and, even then, it was late. Despite many promises there is nothing concrete to show for it.”
The SDRP had awarded the players 50 per cent of proceeds associated with the 2006 World Cup campaign. However, the matter had to be contested in the high court here after the TTFF failed to settle on the grounds that the players had breached the Panel’s gag order. “Every player with the exception of one is prepared to go back to court,” declared Kelvin Jack, Trinidad and Tobago’s first-choice goalkeeper for much of the qualifying campaign.
“It has been very disappointing. We have been through this thing since 2006 and now we are in 2014 and are still in this situation…”.
The threat of a return to the High Court comes a week after the local football body announced an out-of-court agreement with another ex-World Cup player Russell Latapy.
Reports suggest that Latapy accepted the promise of payment over two tranches from the TTFA as well as an acknowledgment of its debt to him from his tenure as national coach.
“Unfortunately some of the money that was promised (to us) hasn’t materialised so we are in the process of sourcing the remaining amount,” said TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillip.
“There are some extenuating circumstances that got in the way of us getting hold of those funds; but we got assurances that those funds will be paid very shortly”.
