FIFA grants TTFA's normalisation committee a year-long extention

The FIFA-appointed normalisation committee has been given a second year-long extension to complete its mandate.

This means the Robert Hadad-led administration remains in full control of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) until March 31, 2024.

FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura confirmed this in a statement issued on Thursday.

FIFA said the extension was given owing to “certain recent developments” which have “delayed the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) process” designed to settle outstanding legitimate creditor balances.

Football’s global governing body said its proposed mandate had not yet been completed in full.

The mandate includes revising and amending the statutes and organisation and holding elections for a new TTFA executive committee for four years.

The release said the decision was made on February 27 to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee.

This is the second time the committee’s term has been extended. In December 2021, three months before the end of its initial two-year term, it was granted a year's extension to help it achieve its core objectives.

FIFA said this was because of an array of legal drawbacks stemming from the TTFA board’s disagreement with the committee’s appointment in 2020, partnered with pandemic challenges.

On March 17, 2020, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided, in accordance with article eight paragraph two of the FIFA Statutes, to appoint a normalisation committee for the TTFA, whose tasks were to run the TTFA’s daily affairs, to establish a debt repayment plan that could be implemented by the TTFA administration, to review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA congress, and to organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.

In addition, on September 24, 2020, the Bureau decided, in accordance with article 16 paragraph one of the FIFA Statutes, to suspend the TTFA with immediate effect due to the fact that members of the former TTFA board of directors had appealed the above-mentioned decision of the Bureau before the High Court in TT.

On November 16, 2020, FIFA was informed that all claims against it before the ordinary courts of TT had been closed.

Consequently, on November 19, the Bureau lifted the suspension of the TTFA with immediate effect, the Bureau took note that, due to the high amount of debts accumulated by previous TTFA administrations and given the number of unsecured creditors, on November 8, 2021, the normalisation committee decided to proceed on the basis of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of TT and make a proposal to the various creditors to settle outstanding legitimate creditor balances (BIA process).

Because of the urgent and complex challenges that the TTFA was facing at the time, the Bureau decided on December 17, 2021, to extend the mandate of the normalisation committee until March 31, 2023.

Finally, the Bureau acknowledged that, with the primary objective of allowing the normalisation committee to fulfil one of its main tasks and with a view to preventing the TTFA’s complete liquidation as well as avoiding significant long-term harm to the organisation and football in general in TT, FIFA decided to provide financial support to the TTFA to address its extreme situation.

In this context, FIFA has now approved financial assistance to the TTFA subject to signing a strict financial agreement between FIFA and the TTFA. Furthermore, certain recent developments have delayed the BIA process.

Consequently, and considering the backlog, the normalisation committee has not yet been able to begin revising the statutes, another of its main tasks.