PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Deposed president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) William Wallace said Monday he would reconsider his involvement in the sport at the national level if he loses the court battle he is waging against football’s world governing body which replaced he and his team with a normalization committee last month.
Speaking on I95.5FM’s ISports radio show here, Wallace also made it clear he would not be giving any assistance to the committee which is headed by local businessman Robert Hadal.
In March, four months after TTFA’s elections, FIFA removed the executive because of what it said was financial mismanagement and appointed a normalization committee to take charge of operations. The TTFA has challenged the move at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland.
“If, at the end of the day, we go to the court and we are not successful at the court, at that point in time I would reconsider my position in terms of serving Trinidad and Tobago football. I would have to think about it – my continuing involvement in Trinidad and Tobago football at that level,” Wallace said, adding that he was unsure whether he would run for office again.
The former TTFA boss said that given the ongoing legal challenge, he would not be assisting the Hadad-led committee in carrying out its work.
When FIFA appointed the normalization committee, it said the body would have up to two years to carry out its work, during which time it would be mandated to create a debt repayment plan for the TTFA, review the local governing body’s statutes and ensure their adherence to FIFA regulations, and oversee new elections.
Wallace said that as far as he was aware, Hadad had been getting all the information he required.
He stressed, however, he would not be assisting in any way “at this point”.
“If I have a matter before the court, there is no way that I can…support anything that I am actually going up against. It just can’t work,” Wallace insisted.
“On one hand I’m saying it was wrong to set up a normalization committee, but on the other hand I’m helping the normalization committee in Trinidad and Tobago? That just wouldn’t make any sense, right?”
“It’s not a personal issue, it’s not a personal thing against Robert, or anybody as a matter of fact, and I will always support football, but we have a case and therefore we have to act the part,” Wallace added.
FIFA has insisted that its normalization committee remains the sole authority for football governance here
