CFA president brushes off calls for his removal

SEVEN of the nine clubs that make up TT’s Central Football Association (CFA) are calling on its president Symdeo Gosine to resign. If not, they said, he will be removed. But Gosine said they “don’t have that power”

This call, the clubs say, is a result of comments he made in a recently-published article in the TT Guardian among other things.

In the article, Gosine spoke about the ongoing legal battle between the embattled TT Football Association (TTFA) executive and FIFA over the latter’s decision to appoint a normalisation committee to the association.

He was quoted as saying, “Keep them (embattled executive) out of TT football because they are not thinking about the effect it would have on the country and footballers as a whole. For me, they are all selfish. We need to separate these people from football.”

He called on the public to support FIFA’s decision.

But in a letter obtained by Newsday, Central Soccer World, Compadres FC, Family Soccer FC, Real Central FC, Arima Tigers FC, SME Titans FC, and Latchu Trace Youth all agreed – via a digital signature – they are all calling for his removal.

The two clubs which did not sign are Orange Field Firehouse SC and Harlem Strikers FC.

The letter was written and signed by CFA General Secretary Clynt Taylor and dated May 21.

“Shymdeo Gosine no longer speaks for the CFA members. Shymdeo Gosine no longer enjoys the confidence of 2/3 of the membership and board members in accordance with the constitution of the CFA.

“The members below are demanding his resignation by noon Monday May 25, 2020, or he will be removed by the clubs in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.”

It added that his comments to the TT Guardian do not represent the views of any other CFA members.

But contacted by Newsday, Gosine said Taylor has “no power” to issue such a letter as he is “no longer the CFA General Secretary.

“We have appointed somebody else. We have written to him and told him all the documents and equipment and so on that he has, that belong to the CFA, he should drop it to the office of the president or the secretary.”

He brushed off the letter as “stupid,” saying Taylor’s use of the CFA letterhead was “illegal.”

Asked about his comments to the TT Guardian, he said, “When I made those comments, I didn’t make those comments on behalf of the CFA, I said the president.”

In response to the clubs saying they will remove him as president if he does not resign, he said, “They don’t have that power. He (Taylor) doesn’t have that power. That’s just semantics. How could they remove me? They can’t.

“Even if he was still general secretary, he cannot issue a letter without my permission. That’s how it works.”

He added that he has nothing to hide.