Government gives TTFA $2m boost for World Cup campaign

THE Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) will receive $2 million over two years (2024-2026) from the Ministry of Sport and Community Development towards their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign, as the Soca Warriors begin a new era under new coach Dwight Yorke.

Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis told Newsday the TTFA will get the “equivalent” of $1 million for the first year. If the ministry is satisfied with how the money is being spent, an additional $1 million will be distributed for the second year of the agreement.

“What we have done is support TTFA’s proposal for their World Cup campaign,” Cudjoe-Lewis told Newsday. “They submitted to us a World Cup proposal...and we are making a contribution to their proposal like governments have done in the past. This time they have submitted and the terms and so on, as it relates to the terms and conditions of the contract between Dwight Yorke and the TTFA.”

Yorke was named as the new senior men’s football coach on November 1, replacing interim coach Derek King. King held the position for a few months after Angus Eve was sacked. By the end of the week, Yorke’s assistant staff is expected to be named.

Yorke is a Manchester United and TT legend, having captained the Soca Warriors at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Yorke was part of the national team when he was still a teenager, playing a part in the Strike Squad team.

The former striker and midfielder will now have a new role, guiding the team in an effort to qualify for a second World Cup.

National team coaches are paid lucrative salaries in football and someone with Yorke’s name is expected to cost the TTFA a hefty sum. Some national coaches make millions annually.

New US coach Mauricio Pochettino, according to a CBS Sports article quoting ESPN, is expected to make around US $6 million annually. Pochettino is a respected coach, having coached English Premier League club Chelsea. He will get paid more than double that of former US coach Gregg Berhalter.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Yorke was earning US$37,500 a month, plus bonuses, while in charge of Australian club Macarthur FC from 2022-2023. According to local online media outlet Wired868, Eve earned US$12,500 a month at the national helm. Another former coach, Terry Fenwick, had a starting salary of US$20,000. Cudjoe-Lewis, who is elated to welcome Yorke back into the national team, reiterated that the Government’s financial support is for the TTFA, not specifically for the new coach’s salary.

“Whoever TTFA chooses to be its coach that is between TTFA and that coach. Of course, it is great for us to have a local, somebody who is a star, someone who has served as sports ambassador and so on, that is a good thing for all of us in TT. In the past, you would see that the Cabinet has approved World Cup campaigns...and we were presented with a proposal. That proposal consists of so many things from coaches, coach fees, support for local training, local games, foreign games, airline (tickets)...we made a contribution to their campaign and they determine how they are going to spend the contribution.”

Yorke will be paid by the TTFA through allocated funds provided by FIFA, Concacaf, the Ministry of Sport and several sponsors.

In a radio interview on i95FM on November 2, TTFA president Kieron Edwards said that Yorke’s salary is below the average wage of coaches in other ambitious countries such as Jamaica. Edwards said “it’s not about money” for Yorke and they got him for a “steal of a deal.”