Daniel Thomas, General Secretary of two-time defending national club champions Fruta Conquerors, sat down with Stabroek Sport yesterday to discuss the club’s unexpected absence from the revamped 2021 Concacaf Club Championship, which is scheduled for the Dominican Republic.
Below features the entirety of the exclusive interview with the veteran sport enthusiast and administrator.
1. Concacaf recently merged the Caribbean Club Shield and their Club Championship, what are your thoughts on this decision?
“The decision by Concacaf to merge the Caribbean Club Shield and the Caribbean Club Championships caught the club totally by surprise. Initially, during the month of February, as a club, we did reach out to Concacaf indicating to them the numerous challenges that we were experiencing as a club to participate in this year’s Club Shield Com-petition, and this was done prior to any deadline dates.
“However, as the first deadline date arrived, and our travel costs went through the roof with the challenges to secure a normal flight to Curacao, we once again took the decision to inform them out our continued challenges, and our decision to withdraw. The decision to withdraw from the competition was done with a heavy heart, but was done on the principle that we did not want our club banned, fined or suspended from future championships. Our letter of withdrawal from the championship was very clear, as we did outline the numerous challenges that we were experiencing to get to this championship, and we were also very clear that we were also open to participating in the championship if there was some sense of normalcy in the world in relation to flights and the reopening of ports.
“Subsequently we were notified that the Caribbean Club Shield was postponed until further notice. With that we did submit another letter to Concacaf notifying them of our willingness to participate once another date was set. However, much to our surprise and that of many, the competition was once again scheduled and with a modified format.”
The Tucville unit’s absence from the Caribbean Club Shield was confirmed on April 23 as Concacaf staged a new draw for their revamped 2021 Club Championship which included teams from the Club Shield. This was confirmed by an official release from Concacaf.
2. Why didn’t the club enter the official draw which occurred last week given that it was open to all clubs in the Club Shield?
“As far as I am aware and being the Secretary of the club, we never received any official correspondence from Concacaf indicating this new format/ arrangement and or even the change in venue moving from Curacao to the Dominican Republic.”
3. Given that the club is no longer part of the tournament, was finance the issue for their non-participation in the merged event?
“The global COVID 19 pandemic has brought with it tremendous challenges to associations and clubs with scarce and limited financial resources. If the situation was a normal one, similar to that of 2019 when we did participate with the finances that we could have garnered, we would have been able to easily attend.”
4. How big of a disappointment is it for the club not to be participating in the Club Champ-ionship given its initial preparation?
“It’s always a big disappointment, the players and staff would have commenced preparation and we had started our preparatory work with training sessions.”
5. How much money did the club possibly lose for their non-participation?
“I am extremely disappointed with Concacaf, this pandemic has caused untold hardships to many players’ lives, disrupted activities at clubs and affected many clubs’ finances. As a club, we had already commenced offering financial assistance to players for them to secure their passports, and monies were expended to have the field and club house rehabilitated. Efforts were made to have a number of players and staff tested for COVID 19, and also to put COVID 19 measures in place while training.
“The President of our club, in one of his correspondence to Concacaf, did speak to the issue of compensation for our club, for the time, and finances that we spent in preparing for this competition. COVID-19 has posed tremendous challenges to the resumption of sports and competitions around the world, but Concacaf’s decision to merge two champions and move the venue without informing the club has left the club, its players, staff, fans and administrators with a very bitter taste in their mouths.”
National club champion Fruta Conquerors non-participation in the Caribbean Club Shield was confirmed on the 23rd, as regional confederation Concacaf staged a new draw for their revamped 2021 Club Championship which will include teams from the Club Shield.
