Trinidad FA canvases stakeholders with aim of restructuring national game

September 24 – The Trinidad and Tobago FA has begun a roadshow via its National Football Committee to canvas opinion and recommendations for a restructuring of the game within the country.

The first stop was at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, last weekend where TTFA board mem­ber and football committee chairman Sel­by Browne said: “We have brought this pan­el to­geth­er to see about the var­i­ous is­sues, gov­er­nance and struc­ture for Trinidad and To­ba­go foot­ball.”

Browne said that the whole of the TTFA board was behind the restructuring initiative which begins with information gathering that will be compiled into a report with recommendations for the structure of the game.

“I take this man­date very se­ri­ous­ly. Our am­bi­tion is to move Trinidad and To­ba­go foot­ball to the num­ber one spot in CON­CA­CAF, a spot we held in the 1974 World Cup Qual­i­fiers,” said Browne.

“We can­not ex­pect to be do­ing the same things and ex­pect dif­fer­ent re­sults. What we have now is a pop­u­la­tion that is hurt­ing for that pas­sion and love for foot­ball and how the busi­ness of foot­ball has been con­duct­ed.”

The TTFA under president David John Williams has come under local criticism, not least for the failures of its men’s national team to make a significant impact in Concacaf competition. When Williams took charge he immediately faced a TT$40 million debt that has weighed down the development opportunity for the game in the country, and investment in the national teams.

That has prompted the loose formation of an opposition group to Williams under the banner   ‘United TTFA’. Keith Look Loy, former technical director of the TTFA, said that their “collective body will create a United slate of candidates for the next elections of the TTFA”.

In the meantime the TTFA has announced plans for a second division of its top tier T&T Pro League and invited clubs to register. Next season the 10 top tier clubs will receive $108,000 each for their participation, while clubs in the second level will receive $8,000.

Look Loy is president of the current second tier Trinidad and Tobago Super League and has said that none of his clubs will register. Browne has said that he has received interest from Super League clubs but that he expected the Super League to play its competition,

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