PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Mar 20, CMC – The local professional league Thursday gave its support to FIFA taking over responsibility for running the sport in the twin-island republic from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).
The Board of Directors of the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League said in a statement that it “unanimously” accepted the decision by football’s world governing body to establish a normalisation committee to steer the financial and statutory affairs of the TTFA.
“As a football company that have invested over $200 million dollars into the national economy over the last 18 years, the TT Pro League stand ready to work alongside the Ministry of Sports and the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee for the continued development of the game,” it stated.
The statement came a day after TTFA president William Wallace announced that the association was mounting a challenge to FIFA’s decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Pro League was clear it wanted no part of that.
“We have instructed our representative on the former TTFA Board, Mr Brent Sancho, that the TT Pro League will not support any move by the former administration to engage in any legal battle against FIFA over their removal from office,” it said in its statement.
The FIFA takeover follows an assessment which it carried out in conjunction with continental governing body, CONCACAF, that found extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt that resulted in the TTFA facing “a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity”.
FIFA said the financial situation was putting the local association and development of football in the country at risk, and corrective measures needed to be taken urgently.
The normalisation committee will have up to 24 months to carry out its work which would include creating a debt repayment plan which the TTFA can implement, reviewing the local governing body’s statutes and ensuring their adherence to FIFA regulations, and overseeing new elections.
