Time to kick on from Normalisation Committee

THE EDITOR: You can say what you want, the facts speak for themselves – FIFA and its Normalisation Committee (NC) have saved TT football.

Since FIFA installed its NC to run the affairs of our football, there has been no end of criticism from several so called local “experts” and wannabe administrators.

Without calling names or pointing fingers, suffice it to say, people from nearly every representative football organisation have, at one time or another, passed their mouth off on either the members of the NC or FIFA. . And for what?

I, for one, am at pains to see any basis on which the qualified professionals serving on the NC have earned such negative sentiments. On the contrary, had it not been for FIFA’s intervention and the work of its NC, one shudders to think where local football would have been today.

Let’s take an objective look at where the administration of football was before FIFA’s intervention, and what has been achieved since FIFA installed this much-maligned NC.

In March 2020, when the NC was appointed, the FA’s outstanding debt was estimated at $100 million. Creditors ranging from former FIFA vice president and TTFA general secretary Jack Warner to small businesses like travel agents, caterers, chair rental companies etc, and a line of former national football coaches, were calling on the FA for their money. Many had the TTFA in court.

The FA couldn’t pay its staff. Football was in a $100m crisis and Government, to its credit, was unwilling to take taxpayer’s money to bail out the administration.

The NC developed and successfully implemented a process to address this debt. Monies are currently being disbursed – anyone owed less than $200,000 is receiving all that is due to them; sums above that are paid on a pro-rated basis.

During the tenure of prior FA administrations, the newspapers were filled with horror stories of national teams not getting plane tickets until the very last minute (usually bailed out by the Ministry of Sport with taxpayer’s money); or suppliers withholding goods or services because of funds not being paid.

Coaches and players complained about salaries or stipends not being paid for months on end. Football was in the news more because of administrative shortcomings than for what was happening on the football field.

Through its efforts, the NC managed to shift these perceptions enough for both FIFA and the Government to support this year’s launch of a new TT Premiere League. The next step is to get the local private sector back on board.

So, the NC has dealt with the $100m debt and restarted top-notch football.

The next order of business will be ensuring such mismanagement does not recur. While I am not privy to exactly how members of the NC propose to do so, one can be certain a lot of it will be focused on embedding proper systems of control, compliance, and accountability within the association.

It is beyond comprehension how a national sports association, which is required by statute to produce annual audited financials, was able to accumulate $100m in unsecured debt and no one has been held accountable.

On an unrelated note, I’m still recovering from the thrill of our men’s senior team’s exciting victory over Guatemala. Sport does so much to lift the psyche. Even though we collapsed against Curacao (Angus, where was the defence?), the Guatemala victory still resonates with me.

As I walked out of the stadium on that fateful Friday night, amidst my fellow red-jerseyed football patriots, I couldn’t help but spare a thought for members of the NC who, in the face of all the unwarranted criticism, have stuck to their task.

The NC’s tenure ends in March when, one assumes, TTFA elections will determine the future leadership of our football. I am certain individuals with aspiration to assume leadership roles will have the best of intentions.

They would do well, however, to recognise that good intentions and prior participation in sport are not by themselves adequate credentials to run the multi-million-dollar business that is modern football.

The NC would do well to enshrine in the TTFA constitution, rules to ensure only appropriately qualified professionals with spotless track records of success qualify to fill the shoes of members of the NC when their term ends.

DEREK DERRON

Football fan,

St James