Transparency is important

RAMESH Ramdhan, recently appointed general secretary of the TT Football Association (TTFA), is stressing the need for a transparent approach by the local football governing body.

Ramdhan, a former FIFA referee, was speaking during a telephone interview on Monday, less than 48 hours after he was named as the replacement for Camara David.

Asked about his short-term goals as general secretary, Ramdhan replied, “I know what is required, I know what has to be done. Most of all, I will like to see the governance of football really stand up to scrutiny.

“I will like to see the public involved via our new website that we will be creating,” he continued. “It will be a live website where we could inform the general public and the world what’s going in on TT football.

“Transparency is important and nothing that we do in football should be hidden from anybody. I am sure that I will be in a position to do that, from the general secretary’s position. We should be transparent in whatever we do.”

Ramdhan was the first Caribbean referee to officiate at a FIFA World Cup Finals (Croatia versus Japan at the 1998 edition in France).

He also had a stint at local government level where he served as an alderman at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation.

Now, he is ready to give back to TT football at the administrative level.

“I have always wanted to give back,” Ramdhan said. “It’s just that the last (TTFA) administration wasn’t open. I was already at the TTFA as the head of the (Referees) Department. I had contested the presidency in 2015 and since that I was blocked out, literally, from the TTFA.

“Now that this opportunity has arrived, I am prepared to do my all to help the team (United TTFA). It’s reignited my passion after a couple years of turmoil.”

According to Ramdhan, “I have a very good working knowledge of how football works, at the governance (level), in the world. I’ve been interacting with people in football, from as high as FIFA all the way down to the grassroots. I was also working behind the scenes with the United TTFA.”

He added, “We were (working) months ago with Raymond Tim Kee, may God bless his soul, he was the man we were working behind and then he got ill, so we passed the baton to (current president) William Wallace.”

Does he think that his time as a referee and interacting with people from all areas of football will prepare him for this role?

“I’ve been involved, after football, in FIFA, working as a stadium security officer,” Ramdhan responded. “When they introduced the RAP (Referee Assistance Programme), I was put in charge of Concacaf (region). I was working with administrations throughout Concacaf to position them to transition into the new statutes of FIFA concerning referees…and putting structures in place.

“My international contacts have already congratulated me so that’s good to see.”