The ultimate sin today is criticising a group, especially on moral grounds. We live in a nihilistic post-shame era. There are no permanent standards, just the shifting judgment of the crowd. We have a culture of oversensitivity, overreaction and frequent moral panics, during which everybody feels compelled to go along. …
Read More »The ‘rebirth of the TTFA’? Or expect more of the same? Daniel, Downer and Walkes share views
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) must pay off a loan of US$3m (TT$20.1m) over the next 10 years to a mysterious benefactor—a repayment plan of essentially US$300,000 per year. It is a far rosier proposition than the previous scenario of 258 irate creditors and a debt of over …
Read More »Creditors vote ‘yes’ as TTFA raises offer to 60% of debt, Warner and Fenwick left empty-handed
At around noon today, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), via trustee Maria Daniel, agreed settlements with creditors on debts stretching back more than two decades. Daniel, hired by Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad, had a fund of roughly TT$16m to address claims, which totalled TT$84.5m. It meant …
Read More »The TTFA’s debt proposal: HoF gets thumbs down, Warner, Fenwick and Miller make claims, and tension between creditors
Trustee for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), Maria Daniel, revealed to creditors that the local football body has received 291 financial claims amounting to roughly TT$90.7m. But to settle its debts, the TTFA has ‘an approved financial arrangement’ of US$3m (TT$20.1m) —minus a ‘supervisory levy’ of TT$1.005m It …
Read More »Early Bird: Monty who? Blackwood brings WI batting coach into sharp focus
It’s not cricket that is my editor’s forte; it’s football. So it’s mainly the beautiful game we’d discuss if, instead of walking by himself on evenings, he decided to walk on mornings with Bobby and me. But today he called about the game of glorious uncertainties. “I just sent you …
Read More »‘I chase bad men!’ How the late Andrew Jennings changed investigative sport journalism
One of my most vivid memories of Andrew Jennings came on our second meeting, after a media conference at the Trinidad Hilton in the build-up to the 2001 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. It was an elegant event, attended by then Fifa president Sepp Blatter, with every …
Read More »Flashback: When Trinidad and Tobago challenged Canada for the 2000 Gold Cup title
The dawn of the new millennium produced a shocking Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in 2000 as, for the first and only time in 30 years, neither Mexico nor the United States appeared in the final. In the quarterfinal round, Canada shocked Mexico 2-1, South American guests Colombia edged USA on …
Read More »‘Parents keep bringing their children, so it’s hard to stop!’ Day in the life of a youth coach
“[…] It was easier [to coach in the 1980s and 90s] compared to now… Back then, children had a love for the game. Children nowadays, as a result of modern technology and social media, are more interested in being on an electronic device playing games than running around playing football. …
Read More »Haitian robbery; David, ‘Gally’ and ‘Archie’ erupt in controversial ‘74 campaign
The following is the third instalment of a series on Trinidad and Tobago’s World Cup football adventures, adapted from articles published first in the Trinidad Express in 2006, and looks back at the controversial 1974 World Cup campaign: Port-au-Prince was as silent as a grave on 4 December 1973. On …
Read More »Flashback: Tribute to Angus Eve; why Trinidad and Tobago owes more respect to sporting heroes
The following column was written by then Trinidad Express journalist Lasana Liburd on 6 June 2005: If Angus Eve stacked stationery or cut out newspaper clippings at CCN for a living, he would be afforded a proper send-off on the day that he, or the company, decided his talents belonged …
Read More »Noble: Can Fifa be tamed? Collaborations—not the courts—offer the best shot
In the furore about local football and the appointment of a normalisation committee by Fifa, a proper appreciation of Fifa and its workings is missing. To accuse Fifa and its inner core of corruption is like accusing a tiger of having stripes: it is there, so what? Fifa can best …
Read More »Warner: The treatment is great… not so much the food; ex-Fifa VP breaks silence in Couva
Former Fifa vice-president and ex-Minister of National Security Jack Warner said he is on the mend and hopeful of a quick discharge, after being diagnosed with Covid-19 earlier this week. Warner, who is 77, said he is hospitalised at the Couva Hospital and offered a brief statement on his current …
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