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Does one glass of Bailey’s on New Year’s Day constitute excessive drinking for a professional athlete?
Phyllis Andrews, the “aunt” of 26-year-old Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team defender Daneil Cyrus, insisted that national head coach Tom Saintfiet has defamed the Soca Warriors player. And she is urging Saintfiet or the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to clear Cyrus’ name.
(Courtesy Nicholas Williams/Wired868)
Saintfiet dropped Cyrus and 22-year-old national midfielder Jomal Williams and told the media that the players missed their noon check-in at the Cara Suites hotel on New Year’s Day and smelt of alcohol.
“Two of the players came one and a half hours too late in camp and had still decent smell of alcohol around him (sic),” said Saintfiet. “That was Daneil Cyrus and Jomal Williams. Both were immediately sent home, back to party—but are replaced in the squad.”
Aunt Phyllis admitted Cyrus was late for their residential camp in Claxton Bay. However, she is offended by the insinuation that the versatile W Connection player turned up for national duty reeking of alcohol.
“If [Saintfiet] says the other fella was drinking, he has to prove that too but that is their business,” said aunt Phyllis. “You can drop [Cyrus] for any other reason but don’t say he was stink of alcohol. That boy never came in my house stink of alcohol. And I open the door most of the time for him because he always loses his keys…
“So I want them to clear that up.”
Cyrus did, she admitted, have a glass of Bailey’s. The national defender told Wired868 yesterday he did not touch alcohol that morning. However, he confirmed that he had one drink.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
She insisted there was a social context that should not be overlooked, though. It was New Year’s Day and just one glass of “weak” alcohol. Don’t players in England, Belgium and other European countries, she asked, have a drink to celebrate too—once they do not end up drunk?
“He slept by me that night and he left from my house to go to camp,” she told Wired868. “We had a family lime and my children don’t get to have much time with him anymore, so they are always happy when he is around.
“He had just one drink and they were laughing at him and saying ‘Bailey’s boy?!’ I have all the alcohol in the world in house and he would hardly drink. All he would say is ‘Ms Andrews, I am taking a shandy’.
“So I really, really take offence to this. This is tarnishing the boy’s name.”
Aunt Phyllis first opened her Santa Rosa Heights home to Cyrus a decade ago when the Plymouth-based teenager needed a place to stay in Trinidad to train with the National Under-17 Team.
She was friends with the mother of National Under-17 forward Stephen Knox. One day, Knox’s mother introduced her to then National Team manager Chris De Silva who asked whether she would give a place to stay to a teenaged boy she had never met.
(Copyright AFP 2014/ John Amis)
“[Knox’s mother] asked me if I could take him and then Mr De Silva and Daneil’s mother came and met me,” said aunt Phyllis. “Daneil was 15 and he has been with me ever since. I have two younger children and everyone welcomed him with open arms, so we are all like family.
“If anything, my children felt I spoiled him. But they are like brothers and sisters.”
Cyrus went on to play in two World Youth Cups for Trinidad and Tobago—the Korea Republic 2007 Under-17 and Egypt 2009 Under-20 World Cups—and cement his place in the National Senior Team.
Aunt Phyllis gave her account of what happened on New Year’s Day, as Cyrus set off for his noon check-in time with his national teammates in Claxton Bay.
“He left [Santa Rosa Heights] about 11am and, when he was in the back of St Helena, he got a flat,” she said. “So he had to call another partner [to come and help him since he did not have a jack]. He called and spoke to the manager [Azaad Khan] and the manager said: ‘Okay come… The coach is really upset but still come’.
“[Cyrus] wasn’t sure of the time [he spoke to Khan] but he thinks it was before 12… I know he left by me a little late and he could have been earlier. But he would have been on time, if not for the flat he had.”
Looking on is new general secretary Justin Latapy-George (far left) and technical director Muhammad Isa.
(Courtesy Wired868)
Aunt Phyllis said she called W Connection co-founder and TTFA president David John-Williams to complain today.
“I called John-Williams and he said he is not charge of the team and that is the [coach’s responsibility],” she told Wired868. “But he said that could be fixed. He said: ‘you know he has a reputation of being late for Connection practice’. But what does that have to do with this? I am dealing with the defamation of character with the [coach claiming the] boy was smelling of alcohol.
“I don’t have a problem with him being dropped for being late. But not for alcohol.”’
Wired868 asked John-Williams to confirm if he said said Cyrus’ issue could “be fixed” and what he would have meant by that. But, although he read the message, he did not respond up to the time of publication.
The website was unable to get further comment from Saintfiet, Jomal Williams or national team manager Azaad Khan.
The Soca Warriors face Suriname from 7pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium on Wednesday in the first game of a round-robin series, which also includes Haiti. One of the three nations will advance to the next Gold Cup playoff round against Central American opposition.
Edwards is the captain of the current Soca Warriors team.
(Copyright AFP 2016/Odd Andersen)
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
Very good. That is how discipline works. For the smallest infraction.
It seems to me that Lasana Liburd should be bowling spin for TNT and the West Indies in how he’s allowing the story to spin with him being the bowler.. Ah bet allyuh that the other players will thing twice about even drinking a Shandy before they come to camp under Saintfiet. Isn’t that a good thing for the team? Lasana yuh should have give aunty some advice and tell she to tell Cyrus to abstain from drinking while representing the National team than making it okay for him to take ah little drink.Trinis want to continue with the same type of behaviors and expect different results. Man do we need a few more Saintfiet’s in TNT.
Shane warne and narine aint want anything with lasana spin
This coach’s stay is short, and perhaps even shorter now, his “newness” might mean that he has made a few enemies in the last 24 hours, perhaps even among the players who made the cut, either way, 1 maybe 2 bad performances could see him being shown the door. TTFA has been uncomfortably silent, I sure hope it’s for the right reason…
Big steups
Stueepsssss. Such nonsense. Poor excuse.
Santa Rosa to Claxton Bay is a 2 hour journey at least, based on the time he left 11:00 he was going to be late, drink or no drink. Their needs to be the admission from these players that “yes” I have a problem…
Trinidad football has a way of scoring goals on us the loyal fans, so we accustomed. So wah is ah lil scorpion kick goal for de New Years. Take ah Baileys and cool it.
One glass too much. End of story
He said he didn’t , Aunty Phyllis saying he did….someone has to be stranger to the truth.
Bailey’s does not have the level of alcohol content to warrant the label of ‘rum cork’…..plus….pro athletes can and do have alcohol….there is always the matter of the amount one consumes. In the middle of the EPL players are allowed to consume alcohol at their discretion. Some clubs ban consumption all together. It seems to me that the story is just that…a story with many versions and we the realll stakeholders left to wonder who really telling the truth. I’m fed up of sifting through the various agendas….there are precedents to deal with issues like these. These are mundane non-issues that big clubs don’t even bother with bcz there are structures in place. We NOW want to lock the barn after the horse has bolted and I’m noyt convinced by these ‘knee-jerk’ ractions. Bcz really that is all it is….can we seriously expect to make dismissal from the national team a response/answer/solution for what are obviously failings of our social and sport administrative structures? smh….let the band play on yes….we going nowhere with this.
Like JW gave the coach sufficient time to babysit these knuckleheads
Looks like Cyrus had a history of being late, hence the coach wanting to see the flat tyre.
But he and his aunt need to be a lil more responsible. If he left a “lil late”, the only way to reach early would have been to speed down the road. Added to that, you gone and take a drink before driving? If a Police officer had stop him, aunty was coming with the “everybody does take a drink on new years” line?
That’s fine Richard Zen O’Brien. The player admitted to being late. So that is uncontested. The other bit is being contested though.
Then he should keep quiet, because in the bigger scheme being late like that is indefensible.
Ok. But then can he defend himself against the other charge? It is debatable which is the worst charge.
Lolol…one sin is worse than the other? Hahaha
In a prior Wired868 article, Cyrus insisted he “did not touch alcohol”.
In this article his adopted aunt Phyllis insisted he had “just one glass of Bailey’s”. Lol!
Her account suggests that the poor lad was also subject to peer pressure, perhaps even taunts from his adopted cousins.
According to aunt Phyllis: “he had just one drink and they (cousins) were laughing at him and saying, ‘Bailey’s Boy?!'”
For everyone’s information, Bailey’s has more than three times the alcohol volume than a beer.
Most beers have between 4.5 to 5.5 percent alcohol by volume. Bailey’s has 17 percent.
Coach Saintfiet said: “two of the players came into camp one and a half hours too late and still had a decent scent of alcohol around him.”
Does anyone wish to join me in raising a New Year’s toast to the stance taken by the coach? Salut!
A glass of baileys is very strong eh !!! How big d glass was ?!?!
One glass of Bailey’s could never make you smell of alcohol … unless he is an alcoholic so there is already a significant percentage in his blood stream. Steups!!!!
And Bailey’s??? Such a lame drink!
Marcia Tinto its in the breath, it dont take much, only alcohol that does not have a scent is VODKA…..bailey’s is a best drink, just like Ponche de Creme
Professional players get fined for being 10 mins late. If your concern is ‘I wasn’t smelling of alcohol’ after being 1 1/2 hrs late, then we have to give the coach kudos on this one. Also, we’ve gone from ‘don’t touch alcohol’, to ‘only one drink’. Let’s be real here, it’s Christmas time and you’re trini :-)… you want me to believe you’re ‘undisciplined’ enough to reach 1 1/2 late, but you have enough ‘discipline’ to have only one drink? Dude needs to keep quiet.
Well said Richard. Well said.
Facts
Ahmm. Did Wired868 make up the story that the players were drunk? So the coach didn’t know he had a game this week and shouldn’t raise potential distractions too?
Should the coach’s word be final. Or do the players not deserve a say?
Kion S Williams, an understanding of journalism would show you that all parties deserve their chance to have a say. I can’t not be a proper journalist because it might suit Saintfiet.
Nah nah, I know u have a job to do. The patriotic me appealing to the public. That’s what the first line of my post was trying to say. U feel we would know any of this without u doing your job excellently?
Before I published this story, I called Saintfiet, one of his assistants and his team manager. I was trying to get on to someone to see if they would say: Actually, Cyrus was not smelling of alcohol.
That way I would not have needed to do this story at all. But I couldn’t reach them. I did get Saintfiet tonight though.
You got through to coach Saintfiet I am guessing a next article is coming
Shawn Babooram it is posted.
Tyler Perry must be probably writing the script as we read. Doh mess with “big auntie”.
I know wired has to earn a living with news but we have a game in a little over a day. As most coaches say, “let’s focus on the players selected and not discuss those not in the team right now.” We could deal with Molino, joevin, Cyrus, Bostock etc after the Haiti game. It seems we will have plenty time to discuss off field issues once Gold Cup and Workd Cup no longer in the picture.
Bailey’s has alcohol like anything else eh ….. it’s our way of thinking as per usual …….
Sounds sexist
no, i think most Trini men don’t drink Baileys so I find this history unlikely
My question is… since when do Trini men drink Baileys? I never see that in my life
Quite a few, usually with Hennessey
which is my point. If you can combining Baileys with Hennessey, you can’t claim you weren’t drinking some serious alcohol
Sissy drink! It was probably Aunt Phyllis’ drink.?
Marcia Tinto That is exactly what some fellas told me long time ago when I offered it and then reached for my JW Black, so I doh know who he trying to fool
Starting to get better than Westwood Park…
Starting? It already reach. I would watch lol.
Little boys in big man clothes what they think is just so John Williams could get vote out too
Learn? I think is time players get permanently axed
(Slow clap )
Never is for god who are they and dey represent football or puncheon what are thing what kelvin jones is telling his child
They just following the opposition leader
I’m moving on …we get caught up in too much small stuff … you’re out ….. now go home and train harder and move on ….. this coach job on the line so he aint playing around …so they either get with the program or get cut ….. maybe we need a lil crazy to deal with d saga boys lol
There are lessons to be learnt in everything. Including this. At the very least, we can learn what might work from what clearly doesn’t work.
I’m totally cool with him dropping Molino and the crew …and Cyrus needs a push …so though he can feel hard done by the coach …he needs a push to get better ….because he’s been poor …. tell you one thing “Coachman” playing a risky game …because you still need players to win your games and keep you in your job 🙂
Precisely!
I suppose they are his players !!!!!!!!Hmmmmmm
What the hell DJW has getting involved in this?Is this a WC issue or an issue for the Coach ?W C……is DJW a WC..?
Honestly though I’m just Fed up…From boat ridex2 Molino to boat ride and fete match and I just too good.fuh tnt Joevin Jones to Bostock who we cyah find.or.lorse he passport or whatever to Central FC doh wanting their.players.to play…lol
Imagine if.these guys were actually World.Class like Yorke Stern latapy or Nakhid ?
One setta back ah yard bush league second.rate team dey with and.head swell up big big big
“Back ah yard Bush league “..wow you hard…lol
No I’m not… I feel
Betrayed by these guys
Agreed agreed
Worse yet…worse yet..we now see in it at the junior level… Imagine men pee eh froth yet and they refusing to play national youth football
If I were good enough to be called to represent my country I reaching camp.6am
Let’s be honest several players got away with these nonsense all the time..its in our DNA….so now is the time to break it
All the bad talk we bad talk Kenwyn..he never deny we
Yeah I’m fedup too …fully agree
Shaun even after he get injured and lose his starting spot on a premier league side as a result
Stern too
Bring back Stern
I’m curious to hear back from TTFA president David John-Williams on how he hopes to “fix” this though. So hope he shines some light.
All other parties are being quite transparent.
I’m sure you shall get all the transparency of mud from King David.
How will my dictator president ever fix our rum drinking culture eh. Them really good yes. hahahaha
Even meh untie Kams is still hooked to eh. Them really good yes. hahahahaha
Lol really Earl lol
Earl?
He had a drunk picture with a baby up ..looks like he moved it lol
I removed it yes because it might have sent the wrong message eh. LOL
the man said he didn’t have a drop of alcohol.
Lasana….I don’t like this article. It begins to take the issue into the realm of gossip. Aunt or mom or whomever…Cyrus is an adult who made an adult decison/mistake. Whilst the content may be somewhat relevant, the headline and the regurgitation (with some minor adapatation) of what is already in the public domain doesn’t really add value to the whole thing
Carlon, the aunt contacted me and said she wanted to clear up the matter. I spoke to Cyrus again. He saw the first article. They still wanted a second piece. And they did clarify some stuff here.
So I consider it a valid piece.
The only other thing I could have said was: No. I refuse to do a second story.
They are hurting. They wanted to say more on behalf of the player. So I gave them a platform to do so, which is my job.
Lasana …the main thing is you are late and did not call none of the management but you call a player ….disrespect….I experience this conduct daily…..time for things to change….if you not committed move on….
From never touched alcohol to one drink…sounding like me when my wife vex…lol
Lol lol
This is where the story falls apart
Yeah is either yuh drink or yuh didn’t …sit yuh ass down and go home! !
Oh my auntie…leave people business alone and mine your own..from a flatt to one glass of “milk drink with a little spirits” …you don’t “drink” whilst on duty…end of story!!!
I’m reading posts where persons are defending these two players and it is clear why we cannot progress as a nation.
In 2016 I accepted we are a failed state.
Late is late! And as for having a glass of Baileys, that is still alcohol. He’s a professional footballer and that means being disciplined and making sacrifices.
Nio…men breaking camp longtime dong forest reserve to go session without consequence…pro in Trinidad mean yuh make de squad. All other aspects of professionalism is ignored.
I agree Nio if yuh late yuh late and it wasn’t 10 mins late it was an entire hour and yuh show up with alcohol on the breath. Eat ah dinner mint nah fool. He should get drop for being dotish.
Mitchell Rhet, all yuh good yes; talking bout eat ah dinner mint…lol. Duane, you’re right, that attitude or lack of professionalism has been there for a long time. Only when men go abroad do they realize how serious this thing is. As soon as some of them touch Trini shores again, is like they turn like Transformers and revert to the old (a la Molino and the other MLS contingent).
“eat ah dinner mint” Lol!
Thought he said he didn’t hve any alcohol tho ???
..Conte is said to encourage his players to have a brew after a match. THAT is not the issue here however..
Late coming is the issue?
Because Cyrus admitted that one.
..THAT yes. Plus poor performance, I suppose. And Sainfiet should just man up and drop him for that. I would. But he and DJW (if the report of J Jones playing for WC last week is correct) also encourage this bullshit..
Notice Jomal is keeping quiet. Perhaps it is with him the problem truly lies here. Daniel is rightfully upset at being classed as a drunkard even though Saintfiet did only indicate one person smelling of alcohol in his statement.
Yeah. The player (and his auntie) admitted that he was late and he would have take his medicine for that one. And Saintfiet might easily have crossed the line with his insinuation about the players.
I think the coach was unprofessional there. Just like the players were unprofessional for turning up late.
..As I said. Fourth World bullshit. Straight up Fourth World, Barnum and Bailey bullshit..
Lasana – absolutely not. The players were both late and from all that have been said, they both consumed alcohol over the last few hours. Aunty Phyllis should have kept quiet. She’s not helping her nephew.
After not before eh Keith
Well, I hope to ask the coach about it today. Is there a zero tolerance on alcohol? Or is he saying the players showed signs of being drunk?
Think of this as a workplace where players also deserve proper HR measures.
..Sorry, Savi?..
Keith, Conte encourages a brew after a game not before, seems these 2 got it mixed up
..Of course after.! I been coaching for thirty years too. I didn’t drink as a player. Don’t drink now..
Tanty just close de case!!!!
All the same, it is true that a player having a glass of alcohol (and worse) happens in Europe all the time. So the player could still be correct that he was not “reeking of alcohol”.
And the excuses have begun!
Contrary to popular belief Shandy is an alcoholic beverage and Bailey’s is not a weak alcoholic drink either. There’s no excuse for his tardiness, he’s a professional and hopefully he will learn from this.
With elders like Aunt Phyllis in his life, he will learn nothing.
I have to assume that the player initially meant no “hard liquor”…
Doesn’t Baileys have like 17% alcohol? Seems like hard liquor to me ???
Is wa kinda young and restless soap opera madness really goin on? On the real though…I really hope whoever gets to the bottom of the mess. Smh
Well look how Cyrus story mash up
..Fourth World bullshit. Straight up Fourth World, Barnum and Bailey bullshit..
Auntie is actually helping to corroborate the Coach’s version of the events. Thanks Auntie!
Ent. The woman digging a deep deep hole for she nephew. ?
Wtf eh
I’m so over this ish ………
??????
Ha is still sport or a episode of the boondocks