TTFA, FIFA officials discuss statute reform

The normalisation committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has held meeting with visiting Fifa officials to discuss statute reform.

The Fifa officials include Nodar Akhalkatsi, Director of Strategic Projects and Member Association Governance, and Sofia Malizia, Member Association Governance Manager.

Both officials held meetings with the normalisation committee, under chairman Robert Hadad as well as stakeholders of the TTFA on matters relating to the statute reform, part of the mandate of the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee.

Fifa appointed a normalisation committee in March 2020 to run the TTFA'S daily affairs; to establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA; to review and amend the TTFA statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and to ensure their compliance with the FIFA statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress; and to organise and to conduct elections of a new TTFA Executive Committee for a four-year mandate.

According to TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed, these discussions were productive and this process will continue through to the latter part of 2023. Other matters relating to the development and progress of local football were also on the agenda.

Malizia’s role consists of dealing with governance matters at national federations. Akhalkatsi meantime is the former president of the Georgian Football Federation, and was appointed Fifa Director of Strategic Projects and Member Association Governance in 2022 after serving as the Director of Member Associations Europe,

The FIFA officials also met on Wednesday with Acting Minister of Sport and Community Development, Senator Randall Mitchell, along with David Roberts, acting Permanent Secretary, and Beverly Reid Samuel, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the ministry, at the ministry in Port of Spain.

The meeting was aimed at providing an update on the work of the normalisation committee as well as updates on the current status of football in TT. The Ministry of Sport and Community Development later stated that it remains committed to working with all key stakeholders to foster the growth and advancement of sport locally.