TT may lose home advantage in W/Cup qualifier

THE TT men’s senior footballers are in a race against the clock. They must get a response from the Ministry of Health by Friday to get back to Concacaf outlining the country’s covid19 protocols for TT’s World Cup qualifier against Guyana on March 25 in Trinidad.

The road to the World Cup qualifier has been less than ideal over the past year due to covid19. Several national players have not been playing competitively as local leagues, including the TT Pro League, have been inactive.

FIFA also banned the TT Football Association for two months last year because of a court battle.

FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run local football which made the United TTFA’s responsibility to oversee local football null and void. The United TTFA eventually decided to drop all court matters against FIFA.

On January 31, head coach Terry Fenwick decided to gamble and play mostly foreign players, some he had never seen play because of the closed TT borders, in an international friendly against the US. TT suffered a 7-0 defeat, but showed more quality in the second half when players training with Fenwick in Trinidad were introduced.

In an interview with Newsday, on Thursday, Fenwick said he understands we are still living in a pandemic, but said the protocols are affecting their preparations and is asking for some leeway.

“They are putting limits on what we can do, how we can do it and the possible cancellation of the game in Trinidad at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for our national team in World Cup qualifiers (on) the 25 of March,” Fenwick said.

TT football team manager Adrian Romain, who thanked the Health Ministry for its support, said they are pleading for further support concerning the upcoming match. Explaining further why the qualifier may be in jeopardy, Romain said, “Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline to respond to this letter.

We need to show where we are playing our home game, the protocols are in place (and) are they lifting the protocols just to assist us in our World Cup dream? That question is unanswered at the moment.”

Romain said it is a possibility that the TT-Guyana may have to be played at a neutral venue, which will take away TT’s home advantage.

One of FIFA’s latest rules may also prevent TT from including some of its foreign-based players for the qualifier.

FIFA allows clubs to prevent their players from travelling for national duty where quarantine is required for five days or more.

People entering TT must quarantine between seven and 14 days, therefore special arrangements will have to be made for the TT players trying to return home to represent the national team.

The TT players who returned from the US following the friendly on January 31 are still in quarantine and are unable to train. Fenwick said this is affecting team preparation.

“I am looking for a little bit of support to recognize how important this game is. “Even if I have to use the guys on the ground here in Trinidad I need to have that time on the training ground to prepare properly so we could put up a fight and do our stuff.”

Fenwick is hopeful that the players will be allowed to train from next Monday.