Jan, McFarlane fired as SPORTT directors

Former director at the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago Imran Jan said he was pleased that his job was terminated because he was not happy with how the local sporting body was being run.

Jan, speaking to Newsday, confirmed that he and Richard McFarlane were fired yesterday from SPORTT.

Jan and McFarlane’s dismissals follows the firing of five SPORTT employees last week including CEO Adam Monsterin.

“(Yesterday) I received an e-mail from the chairman of the board Dinanath Ramnarine forwarding an e-mail from the Minister of Finance Colm Imbert indicating the termination of two directors — myself and Richard McFarlane,” Jan said. “Of course no grounds were indicated or no reasons. It was just a paragraph stating that your tenure at the board has been terminated and they have appointed two new directors already.”

Jeffrey Guillen and Hayden Manzano were the new men appointed to replace Jan and McFarlane.

Jan, who also serves as assistant coach of the TT Red Force, finds it strange that his contract was terminated shortly before it was supposed to end.

“I will also like to note that our appointments were about to end in two weeks’ time. It was a two-year tenure and we had two weeks left in our two-year tenure so I can’t see the reason for terminating it. I am not disappointed about it I am actually pleased that I was terminated.”

Asked why he was pleased to be terminated Jan, the former TT cricketer, said, “Because of the way things were unfolding. I have a resignation letter on my desktop, it has been there for two months and it is just to click SEND.

“I have not done it because for me to resign it would have meant I would have been running away from what I signed up to do, which was to represent the country’s best interest at state level.”

Jan, who said he may not be able to take legal action as a board member, believes asking pertinent questions may have led to their dismissal. “Based on what has transpired over the last couple months with regards to former director McFarlane and myself, is that we have asked some very pertinent questions with regards to some activities that are taking place on the board and at the board level.”

Jan said the chairman along with other directors have operated like SPORTT is their own personal business venture which Jan disagreed with.

“What I have seen since Dinanath Ramarine’s assumption as chairman has been nothing short of very bizarre and acting on his own and to me that is wrong.

“We are guided by the state performance monitoring manual as issued by the Ministry of Finance and it clearly states we are directors and there is a chairman. There are no executive powers so we cannot run the company as it is our own.”

Calls to Ramnarine and the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith last evening proved futile.