“Fed up of the disrespect!” T&T Men’s and Women’s players hit out at TTFA president

On 17 April 2026, the day of their must-win Brazil 2027 World Cup qualifier against El Salvador at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s National Senior Team woke up to a message in the players’ WhatsApp chat group from assistant manager Carissa Orr, which was ostensibly relayed from Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards.

Dear Team, today we stand on the brink of something great. I know the path hasn’t always been easy, and we’ve faced more than our share of challenges. But as Nelson Mandela once said, ‘it always seems impossible until it is done.’

You have worked tirelessly; your dedication is unmatched. So today, step onto that field with the confidence of champions.

I believe in you, the nation believes in you—now go make history.

A message from the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, Kieron Edwards.

The Women Soca Warriors claim that this WhatsApp message, sent via their assistant manager, was the only contact that Edwards had with their team throughout their entire campaign, which started with their first training camp in October 2025.

A national player, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Women Warriors pointedly ignored the message.

“Nobody liked it (the WhatsApp message)—it just stayed there to be honest,” she told Wired868. “They blatantly don’t care… It seemed like they were setting us up to fail.”

Two months after the conclusion of their Concacaf W Championship Qualifying campaign, which also served as qualifiers for the Brazil 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup, Trinidad and Tobago players are still owed match fees for two of their three outings.

“A lot of the players are unemployed and they were looking forward to their money,” said the player. “They are starting to get antsy. You all already didn’t support us the way you should during the campaign—the least you could have done is pay us on time.”

Complaints regarding broken promises, owed match fees and poor communication from the TTFA president are not unique to the Women Warriors.

Despite regularly playing to packed venues, the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team players are still owed match fees for half of their outings in the final Concacaf World Cup qualifying round.

“The manager (Richard Piper) would say we should reach out to the president [on owed match fees],” said a member of the Men’s National Senior Team, “but every time we reach out there is no answer.

“He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t call back. He doesn’t respond.”

During the March Fifa Series, Trinidad and Tobago captain Levi Garcia announced to players that Edwards vowed to pay outstanding match fees within two weeks.

That was just over eight weeks ago.

Still, the players are waiting.

There have been more unpaid bills since, with players yet to be paid for any games in 2026.

As it stands, the Soca Warriors are due US$500 each for a friendly against Bolivia along with US$1,000 each from games against Venezuela, Gabon and South Korea.

“I’m fed up of the disrespect,” said the Men’s Team player. “What I know is if you reach out to someone and they see a missed call or a message and they know they have business with you, they will reach back out. But there is nothing like that with him.

“[…] For some of the new players like Kobi (Henry) and Dante (Sealy), they were shocked at how things were taking place with the lack of professionalism from the federation.”

The Men’s Team agreed match fees of US$3,000 per game in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with bonuses of US$1,000 per win and US$500 per draw. These are paid equally to all persons in the match day squad.

The Warriors are owed for their win against Bermuda on 10 October 2025 (US$4,000 each), as well as for draws against Curaçao and Jamaica (both worth US$3,500 per player) on 14 October and 13 November 2025 respectively.

The players claimed that, although Edwards promised to pay within 30 days of each game, the TTFA only paid on time for their first match window in September 2025.

The next payment for the local football body came in January or February 2026 and was only for their closing draw with Bermuda on 18 November 2026.

“What he was continuously saying was everything would be sorted before the World Cup qualifying games were over,” stated the Men’s Team player. “But that never happened.”

In the case of the Women’s Team, agreed match fees were US$700 for starting players, US$500 for substitutes used in the game, and US$300 for unused substitutes.

There was no agreed timeframe for payment, as players spoke to either women’s director of football Jinelle James or managers Maylee Attin-Johnson and Orr, rather than to Edwards or anyone else on the executive.

“We were paid when we played Barbados and the practice game against Jamaica,” said the Women’s Team player. “But we had to press them about when we were getting our money. In the end, we were paid a couple days before Christmas.

“Then we played the Honduras game (on Wednesday 4 March 2026) and we were told we would be paid on March month end.”

According to the player, the local-based Women Warriors trained in soaring midday heat for their crucial Concacaf qualifier against El Salvador with only water as refreshments. Occasionally, there were energy drinks, although not always enough to go around.

“I remember one time that two players had to share a Reboot, because there were not enough,” she said. “But most times, it was just water.”

As the El Salvador outing loomed, the players briefly considered threatening a boycott until they were paid the outstanding match fee. However, they voted against it.

Instead, they would do everything in their power to keep their World Cup dreams alive—in the hope that Edwards and his executive would eventually settle their debts.

For both teams, the outstanding fees is only half of the issue. As big a concern for them is what they feel are the discourteous responses from their football president.

In the case of the Men’s players who compete domestically, they are in a similar situation with regards to outstanding TTPFL Tier One salaries for the month of February.

On 16 March 2026, TTPFL interim CEO Yale Antoine told clubs that:

“[…] The processing of payments remains pending, and we continue to work towards completion as soon as possible. Efforts are ongoing to resolve the matter and ensure that payments can be released without further disruption, cognisant of the upcoming holidays and end of the season.

“We appreciate your continued understanding and patience as the necessary processes are finalised…”

Almost three months later, there has been no change on that front either.

On Wednesday 27 May, Wired868 asked Edwards the following questions:

“[…] Are match fees owed to men’s and women’s players? Were they given a timeframe for when they would be paid? Is there any clear communication on the issue? Have you met the women’s team since their last qualifier? Or during the campaign?”

Edwards responded on Thursday 28 May and asked for a day’s grace, so he could: “look into this and get back to you”. Up until the time of publication, four days later, he had not addressed the questions.

For Trinidad and Tobago’s overseas-based players, they are hurt by what they see as “disrespect” by their president. For the local-based players, who generally operate with tighter budgets, the unpaid money stings too.

And then there are the foreign-born players who pledged their services to the two-island republic, and are bewildered by the relationship between administrators and players.

Canada-born sisters Myla and Emma Schneider, who both represent SC Rio Tinto Fermina in Portugal, and Australia-born midfielder Elise Franco (Brisbane City FC) represented Trinidad and Tobago in two match windows between the months of February and April.

More than two months since then, Franco and the Schneiders are unpaid and have never met the TTFA president.

Just minutes before publication, the Women’s National Senior Team players were sent another update, via their WhatsApp group, from assistant manager Orr:

Good Day Team. We wish to formally advise that we are currently awaiting confirmation of a date for the payment of the outstanding match fees. As soon as this information is received, the relevant details will be communicated to you without delay.

Please be assured that we are actively following up with the Federation on a weekly basis to ascertain the status of the process and to support its timely resolution.

We thank you for your continued patience and cooperation.

Wired868 understands that none of the players responded to the message.

“Honestly I just feel they sent that message because you asked the questions and they are doing it to safeguard themselves,” said the player. “It doesn’t make sense to me because they still haven’t given us a date. It is still unacceptable.

“How do I know that they are even following up with the Federation? They are saying nothing here.”

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