Look Loy takes TTFA to High Court

UPDATE:

TT SUPER League president Keith Look Loy filed a claim for judicial review in the High Court against the TT Football Association (TTFA) on Monday, in a final attempt to compel the association’s president, David John-Williams, to provide documents on the controversial “home of football” project.

It follows a pre-action protocol letter Look Loy’s lawyers sent John-Williams earlier last month which gave the TTFA chief a July 24 deadline to act on the request.
Look Loy, in his affidavit, said he had made requests – acting as a member of the TTFA board and president of the TT Super League – for information on the Balmain, Couva project since December 26 last year.

Look Loy is represented by New City Chambers’ attorneys at law Matthew Gayle, Dr Emir Crowne and Sheriza Khan.

Look Loy is challenging John-Williams’ failure to permit himself and the other board members access to the TTFA ledger for November 2015 to the present; the contribution of FIFA, TTFA and Government to the project of constructing the technical centre in Balmain, Couva, and the overall budget for the project; the names of all companies and parties who submitted bids for construction of the project; the TTFA body or representative who selected the contractor and sub-contractors; the identity of the project manager; the name of the contractor and sub-contractors engaged; the quantum, duration and terms of all the project’s contracts; and the current financial and construction status of the project.

The grounds for the application include the fact that the TTFA is a public company that receives funding from the Government, Look Loy being president of the TT Super League, a body affiliated with the TTFA.
The court is on vacation until September 3.

Look Loy has openly accused John-Williams of “taking full control” of the project, which is being funded by FIFA and built on land leased by the Government.

Last week, John-Williams hosted FIFA representative Véron Mosengo-Omba and Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe in Couva for a site visit, something Look Loy described as a “public relations exercise”.

TTFA general secretary Justin Latapy-George informed TTFA board members on the same day of the site visit via email.

Look Loy said the email was not an invitation as board members were not asked to attend nor were they given a time the site visit would take place.
On July 10, Look Loy, through his New City Chambers attorneys, issued a pre-action protocol letter threatening court action against John-Williams if the specified documents were not presented by July 24.

The letter stated: “...Mr Look Loy sought disclosure of the contract awarded to the project manager and asked to examine the ledger of financial transactions for the period 1 January and 13 June 2018.

“Mr Look Loy has renewed his request for the above sought information on a number of occasions, both in writing and in person, including as recently as Sunday 1 July 2018. These calls for transparency have also been echoed by other key stake holders, including fellow board members: Clynt Taylor; Collin Partap; Jason Labon; Anthony Harford; and Steve Gopeesingh. This suggests a wider and more systematic lack of transparency, since as of the date of writing this letter, Mr Look Loy has not been given access to any of the sought documents or information.
“Furthermore, no rationale (sic) explanation has yet been forthcoming as to why Mr. Look Loy has not been given this information / documents. Nor has it been suggested that he is not entitled to review these documents on request.”

In an interview with Newsday yesterday, Look Loy said after the pre-action notice, John-Williams’ lawyer responded with a suggested date for viewing – August 10 – but that too was not honoured. “His lawyer, after our letter, said we can see the documents on August 10 or thereafter. We said okay, fine. When August 10 came, they never responded.

“We wrote to them again after the tenth... No response. So now we’re no longer playing their game with them because what they intend to do is to clearly is to deferring and bluffing and, therefore, we’ve taken this course.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

TT SUPER League president Keith Look Loy has sought the help of the High Court to compel TT Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams to provide documents on the controversial "home for football" project.

Following a pre-action protocol letter issued to John-Williams's lawyers last month, Look Loy made good on his promise to involve the court as he filed a claim for judicial review on Monday in a final attempt to get the TTFA chief to provide the details.

Last month, Look Loy's lawyers sent John-Williams a pre-action protocol letter, which gave the TTFA chief a July 24 deadline to act on the request.

"We're no longer playing their game with them because what they intend to do is to clearly is to deferring and bluffing and, therefore, we've taken this course," Look Loy said in an interview with Newsday today.