Why no TT team in Russia

THE EDITOR: It is not that we do not have talented footballers in TT. We just do not have enough of a gene pool to select a sizable range of players. The larger the population of a country the more likely there will be sufficient aspirants from which to choose a team.

Sport in the First World is a dedicated money spinner. Talented sportsmen and women are discovered and nurtured like expensive hot-house flowers. Excellence is well rewarded and salaries are based on the numbers of patrons you can attract to your many stadiums. Advertising revenue is what further feeds monetary rewards.

Consider the size and excellence of the stadiums in Russia. We can only dream of having the capacity to handle a fraction of those many visitors.

Have we got the money to support our talented men and women so they can be exposed to constant travel and training in a First World setting? How many TT nationals make it into universities via sports scholarships? How do our local athletes manage their lives if they have insufficient financial support? Just playing games among ourselves is not enough exposure, whether it’s cricket, football or swimming.

I looked at the composition of the European teams which now reflect talented players picked from the countries that were under their colonial rule. The world is now a rich global village and if you have the talent, that world belongs to everybody lucky to be chosen to perform.

All they ask for is excellence. Winner takes all.

LYNETTE JOSEPH, Diego Martin