Look Loy: TT football 'brain dead'

"TT football is flat lining, we are brain dead."

THIS was the statement made at a press conference yesterday morning by TT Football Association (TTFA) board member Keith Look Loy, at The Hotel Normandie in Port of Spain. He says it is because of a lack of transparency and accountability in the TTFA, which he attributes to its president David John-Williams who was elected in 2015.

According to Look Loy, decisions are being made without consulting all of the association's board members. The board meets once per month and the last meeting was held on May 6.

"Since May, the board of the TTFA has been constructively dismissed in favour of the so-called 'emergency committee' that has been appointed by the board itself. The only real emergency in the TTFA is the emergency that is being created by the mishandling of the association by the president and his cohorts," he said.

He said board members have never seen a contract for the matches played by the TT senior en's team over the past year, and questioned how money is being distributed.

"No contract for any international friendly has ever come before the board of the TTFA for agreement. We don't know how much the agent is being paid, and we surely don't know how much money the TTFA is receiving," he said. "Show me the bank records, this is not the private business of the president. TTFA always in court. People always have to be taking them to court because they owed money."

He says despite the disorder and recent calls for his removal, he will not resign as he has a responsibility to the people of TT. In March, the TTFA attempted to legally challenge the legitimacy of his 2017 appointment to the board of directors but was unsuccessful. Look Loy says he has no plans to run for any executive positions in the TTFA's elections in November.

"I am interested in football, not in football posts or positions," he said.

He described the situation as 'abuse' and 'serious injustice' for young footballers, and says that there is not enough football being played in TT.

Look Loy said, "The only country that not playing football right now that going to the Gold Cup is Trinidad and Tobago. Everybody else is playing football, why are we not playing?" TT will compete in the Concacaf Gold Cup which runs from June 15 to July 7. Their first match is on June 18 against Panama.

"We sitting down and we don't know when football will start, but we talking about picking national teams. Where these players coming from?" he said.

Also present were Northern Football Association (NFA) general secretary Rayshawn Mars, and TT Women's Football League (WoLF) president Susan Joseph-Warrick.

They agreed with Look Loy and said they want good governance in TT football.

Joseph-Warrick said, "We've seen it numerously in the press and the media that apparently it's only Mr Look Loy that is fighting the case but we are there. We just want the public to know that we are here to ensure that good things happen in football."