Dear Editor: TTFA Members put Fifa on the spot with EGM motion—will they have balls to stand firm?

“[…] The TTFA EGM adopted an amended motion that called on Fifa to end its control in March 2023 and to return TTFA to its membership, with a proposed election to be held on 18 March.

“This is the most important development in local football in three years. And look trouble now…”

In the following Letter to the Editor, former TTSL president and TTFA technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy suggests why Fifa has been put on the spot by the weekend’s EGM:

On Friday last (9 December) I was, as we say, “minding my own business” when I received three telephone calls from elected football people enquiring if I would be attending the Extraordinary General Meeting, called by the membership, for the following day (10 December) to discuss the following motion:

“Whereas Fifa had installed a Normalisation Committee in March 2020 to run the affairs of the TTFA, with a specific mandate to be completed within a period of two years ending March 2022, and whereas the tenure of this Normalisation Committee was extended for a further year ending in March 2023, and whereas the Normalisation Committee has had more than sufficient time to complete the mandate;

“Be it resolved that this Extraordinary General Meeting of the TTFA now strongly urge that the TTFA Normalisation Committee takes all steps to complete its mandate and to arrange for the election of a new Board of Directors to run the affairs of the TTFA as required by the Constitution of the TTFA, and that this be done in the shortest possible time, but no later than the month of March 2023.”

The general thrust of these calls was: “Mr Look Loy, you know you have the power to persuade people so we need you there.”

Very flattering, but I politely reminded each caller that I am an observer now, and that (seemingly eons ago) their organisation had voted to demand “Look Loy and [William] Wallace” drop the High Court challenge to Fifa’s imposition of its Normalisation Committee on our football.

They also demanded the departure of both men and their United TTFA, so the Normalisation Committee could take the reins of power in TTFA. Respecting that membership call, I walked.

I also told these three callers I was very happy to see that, finally, after three years, the TTFA membership had “grown a pair” and decided to challenge the unrestricted, impenetrable opaqueness of Fifa’s Normalisation Committee—but that they would have to do so without me. My motto in life is “walk and don’t look back”.

In the event, the meeting adopted an amended motion that called on Fifa to end its control in March 2023, and to return TTFA to its membership with a proposed election to be held on 18 March.

This is the most important development in local football in three years. And look trouble now.

Of course, that decision does not automatically result in an election. The decision to hold an election will be made only by Zurich.

You see—and I remain convinced of this—Fifa removed the William Wallace-led administration because it was set on investigating financial impropriety under the preceding David John-Williams-led administration, not the least of which was connected to the construction of the “Home of Football” in Couva.

Fifa had absolutely no interest in this investigatory exercise. The imposition of the Normalisation Committee was intended to stop this.

So, three years later, said Normalisation Committee has supposedly resolved the TTFA debt crisis and should now leave—according to the membership’s wisdom. But has it?

Unfortunately, no. It has merely consolidated the debt.

TTFA now owes one creditor (rumoured to be Fifa) instead of dozens. As I said in a previous letter to the editor, those who inherit the post-Normalisation Committee TTFA will discover who that creditor is, the amount borrowed, and the terms and conditions of the loan.

That debt hasn’t gone away. And the burden of that debt remains on the shoulders of TTFA members.

One of the men poised to take control of TTFA, Eastern Football Association (EFATT) president Kieron Edwards, in a signal of deference and loyalty to Zurich has been quoted in the Newsday of Sunday 11 December as saying the membership is “fully on board with the new Gianni Infantino-led Fifa”.

Is this true? In any event, the question is whether Fifa is prepared to risk the arrival of a new administration that it is not familiar with, and is not certain it could absolutely rely on.

So Fifa is now posed a problem. Does it trust a statement of loyalty from persons outside of the tight Normalisation Committee circle? Or does it reinforce its reliance on its paid employees in the Normalisation Committee to enforce its will and control over TTFA by extending the Committee’s tenure for another year, or even two?

Could Fifa trust a new administration to simply play ball after its three-year reign of non-transparency and non-accountability? Or does it simply prolong its rule until Trinis forget or couldn’t care less?

Therein lies the rub. As I said to close my last letter to the editor, the next few months will be interesting.

When Fifa rejects the membership vote and extends the Normalisation Committee mandate, we will see if the TTFA members have really grown balls.

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