Caribbean Chemicals pulls out TTFA deal

CARIBBEAN Chemicals and Agencies Ltd will no longer sponsor the TT Football Association (TTFA) after learning that Tyril Patrick will be in charge of the local football body before a normalisation committee is set up to handle the affairs of TT football.

On Tuesday, Fifa disbanded the TTFA led by William Wallace, who took over the presidency of the local football body in November 2019. According to an article on the Fifa website, the decision came after a Fifa/Concacaf fact-finding mission to TT.

“The mission found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organisation and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”

On Wednesday, the TTFA learned that Fifa appointed former TTFA finance manager Tyril Patrick to lead the local football body on an interim basis. The decision ended the short run of Wallace, who took over from David John-Williams in November 2019. John-Williams held the position for four years. Since being elected in November, Wallace and his team secured some sponsors including Avec UK, Caribbean Chemicals and Sports and Games.

On Wednesday, chairman of Caribbean Chemicals Joe Pires said if Fifa decides to go back to the “same old” the company will not be willing to continue its support of the TTFA. Patrick was an employee in the John-Williams TTFA administration, which is blamed for putting the TTFA in debt by $50 million.

On Thursday, after hearing the news that Patrick was hired to lead the TTFA, Pires said, “We will be withdrawing our sponsorship until this clears up. We taking a decision that this is a step backwards and that it did not make sense doing this. We are a little bit shocked at the move and confused. We have a lot of information from outside of TT coming to us wondering also what Fifa is doing and why they are doing it. A lot of our suppliers who would come on board are now not interested. We will be suspending our sponsorship until we get further details and when we can understand what Fifa is trying to do.”

Caribbean Chemicals and TTFA agreed to a four-year partnership worth $1.5 million two weeks ago. “We have made commitments to them but we will suspend everything now,” Pires said on the plans put in place between Caribbean Chemicals and TTFA. On March 9, TTFA announced TT’s leading sports retailer Sports and Games as a partner. The four-year arrangement made was set to include collaborations on marketing campaigns and fan engagement programmes that will add extra value to fans, who purchase official merchandise. The partnership will also include ticket giveaways and opportunities to meet players and management. Director of Sports and Games Ltd Omar Hadeed was contacted to determine if the TTFA-Sports and Games agreement will also end after the TTFA was broken up.

He said, “To be honest with you I have had absolutely no contact with any of the (TTFA) representatives thus far.

We have neither reached out to them because obviously in light of the world’s crisis (coronavirus) and the global economic implications our focus has been on our day-to-day operations. I have not had the opportunity to confirm what is the transparency going forward in regard to the TTFA and our agreement with them.”

Hadeed said he is willing to discuss with TTFA to come to a decision.