By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
May 2 – FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has been accused by 13 Trinidad and Tobago players, including Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones (pictured) and former West Ham United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, of trying to mislead the public about a row over unpaid bonuses from the 2006 World Cup.
The players, who also include Crystal Palace’s Stern John, are angry that they have not been given the money they were promised after qualifying for Germany four years ago when they made history by becoming the smallest-ever country to play in the tournament.
The row has erupted again in the run-up to the Trinidad and Tobago’s election on May 24 when Warner is leading the opposition United Congress Nation (UNC), the opposition party of which he is chairman.
The players are upset that Warner, who is a special advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), claimed that all but four of the footballers agreed to a financial settlement with him.
“We would like to make it clear that our timing is not of a political alignment, but merely a reaction to Mr Warner’s attempt to mislead the people of Trinidad and Tobago by telling untruths engineered to gain electoral mileage,” the players said in a press release issued vie from their London-based lawyer, Mike Townley.
“We would ask the UNC – before you select Mr Warner, will you be questioning him over his debt to us, or are you looking for your own version of Calder Hart?”
Hart was the head of The Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (UDeCOTT) until he was forced to resign in March after allegations of corruption.
The group of players, who also include Brent Sancho, Anthony Wolfe, Atiba Charles, Cornell Glen, Aurtis Whitley, Cyd Gray, Avery John, Colin Samuel, Evans Wise and Kelvin Jack, are currently awaiting a decision by a Trinidad and Tobago High Court judge over a ruling.
The players in 2008 won an arbitration hearing before the London-based Sport Dispute Resolution Panel (SDRP), granting them 50 per cent of all World Cup revenue from World Cup Germany 2006.
A gag order was one of the conditions of the settlement, but details of the settlement were still published in the Trinidad Guardian.
This led to the current battle in the local courts that stemmed from the TTFF’s claim that the players were responsible for breaking the gag order.
The players have since denied this.
This latest chapter of the ongoing dispute started in January last year before Justice Gregory Smith, and was originally adjourned for six months after an agreement by both parties.
Another condition, the players said, was for the TTFF to open their financial books to “sufficient inspection of its records by the players and declare any agreement that might be arguably considered as commercial revenue”, which they claim was never done.
“We are certain, that the population of Trinidad and Tobago and the global football family will be curious as to why a FIFA vice-president inexplicably ignored…[the] verdict and has yet to explain or show accounts of the TT$173,690,113.50 (£1.8 million/$2.8 million)that the Trinidad and Tobago Government confirmed the TTFF received from the public and private sector, generated by T&T’s qualification for the 2006 World Cup,” the players claim in their statement.
“We sometimes wonder what we have done to deserve being treated this way by Jack Warner and the TTFF.
“After all, we kept up our end of the bargain by qualifying.
“We the players have always wanted this unfortunate scenario to be sorted out promptly and fairly, thus allowing Trinidad and Tobago football to continue to thrive, and for us to have further opportunity to achieve the success of Germany 2006.”
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