Board will proceed with meeting

SIX TT Football Association (TTFA) board members have collectively made a formal request for association president David John-Williams to call a meeting within the next ten days, directed in the association’s constitution, to discuss, among other things, the appointment of a technical staff for the women’s senior national team.

In an email directed to TTFA general secretary Justin Latapy-George, TT Super League president Keith Look Loy, writing on behalf the five other board members, noted that if the meeting is not called by John-Williams by September 24, it will proceed in his absence.

According to the email, the purpose to discuss the “appointment of a technical staff to the women’s national team; status of the men’s under-17 and under-20 teams; and refereeing issued previously tabled by TTFRA (TT Football Referees Association).”

Look Loy highlighted Article 35 of the constitution, “Meetings of the Board of Directors,” which states: “The President shall convene the meetings of the Board of Directors at least once every two months. Moreover, if 50 per cent of the members of the Board of Directors request a meeting in writing, the President shall convene it within ten days. If the President does not convene the requested meeting by the aforementioned period of time, the other members of the Board of Directors may convene it themselves.”

In under a week, six members of the board - Look Loy; Julia Baptiste (TT Pro League); Collin Partap (Central FA); Joseph Taylor (TTFRA); Sharon Warrick (Women’s League Football - WOLF); Kanhabari Williams (Northern FA) – have requested a board meeting by the TTFA president. There has been no response to the board from John-Williams.

In the email, Look Loy wrote: “If the President does not call this meeting the six (6) members who now request said meeting will proceed in his absence, as well as in the absence of any other Board member who does not attend, and all decisions of said meeting will be legally valid and binding on the TTFA.

“The other five (5) Board members will confirm their support for this email and our joint request for the requested Board meeting by their response to this email confirming their support of its content.”

The latest action from Look Loy and the board members stemmed from an email which technical committee chairman Richard Quan Chan sent to several board members asking for “support and approval for the appointment of Mr. Shawn Cooper as the Coach of the National Ladies Football Team.”

Look Loy replied to Quan Chan by email and copied the membership. It read: “Richard, I do not know what authority you rely on to recommend (sic) anyone to be a coach of any TTFA national team. The so-called meeting (30 June 2018) that appointed you to the post of Chairman of the Technical Committee was illegal as it failed to achieve a quorum. I will challenge your so-called appointment among the membership and in the media and expose you as part of the dictatorial charade being conducted by the TTFA President and his clique, of which you are decidedly a member. My advice to you, to the TTFA President and the TTFA General Secretary is that the aborted meeting of 29 August 2018 be recalled according to the TTFA Constitution.”

He added: “Finally, I do not consent to an important decision such as the appointment of a national coach be taken by email, and without the Board even knowing who the other applicants are, or what their resumes look like.”

Warrick, WOLF vice-president, also responded to Quan Chan saying she felt “slighted” and “disrespected” that the email was not copied to her.

“As the Representative of Women’s Football (TT Wolf) on the TTFA Board, I feel slighted and disrespected that the email seeking support for Mr. Shawn Cooper was not copied to me.

“I am in full support of my fellow board member Mr Keith Look Loy’s stance,” Warrick wrote, adding, “All the board members must be made aware of All the applicants and meet to decide the best choice available.”

The national women’s team, which will compete at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship starting on October 4, remains without a coach.