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The general secretariat of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has confirmed 13 of the 16 persons who will comprise the new board of the local body. The new TTFA board is due to meet for the first time tomorrow, as the William Wallace-led administration looks to chart the way forward for the cash-strapped, beleaguered organisation.
Although there are fresh faces, it is far from a new broom. Six of the members confirmed thus far served for part or the entirety of former TTFA president David John-Williams’ tenure. The representatives are proposed by the member bodies that make up the TTFA and not selected by the football president.
Quan Chan will continue to serve on the board of the TTFA.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/TTFA Media)
Two of Wallace’s vice-presidents, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, were board members under the previous administration. So too were Rayshawn Mars (Northern FA), Richard Quan Chan (Southern FA), Joseph Taylor (Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association) and Keith Look Loy (TTSL).
And while Mars, Taylor and Look Loy spoke out, to varying degrees, against the lack of consultation by the former football president, Quan Chan was a member of the controversial Home of Football committee and the emergency committee that eventually usurped the board’s authority and became viewed as an inner cabal.
New to the TTFA’s board is Wallace and first vice-president Clynt Taylor as well as Keon Edwards (Eastern FA), Jamiyla Muhammad (Women’s League Football), Dwayne Thomas (Central Football Association), Phillip Fraser (Secondary Schools Football League) and former Sport Minister Brent Sancho (TT Pro League).
Wired868 understands that the Pro League board narrowly selected Sancho, a former 2006 World Cup defender and the Central FC managing director, ahead of AC Port of Spain administrator Michael Awai—another strong ally of the former TTFA president.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
The Pro League is the largest voting bloc within the TTFA with 10 voting delegates, followed by the Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) with eight. All zonal bodies have three each while the WoLF, Referees and Futsal bodies have two delegates each and remaining entities have just one.
The Tobago Football Association (TFA) is yet to select its board representative due to transitional issues, as members address the sudden resignation of its president Anthony Moore, who was a vice-presidential candidate on John-Williams’ ‘Team Impactors’ slate and served on the emergency committee.
And interim Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT) president Selby Browne, Wired868 understands, has not been granted leave to return to the board just yet as the general secretariat seeks advice on his referral letter. Browne was also a member of the controversial emergency committee and a defeated vice-presidential candidate for John-Williams.
The membership of the VFFOTT has been a matter of speculation for some time with uncertainty as to whether the body has any financial members or proper meetings. However, the Veterans association is recognised by the TTFA constitution and was deemed compliant and eligible to vote at last month’s election.
(Copyright Allan V Crane/TTFA Media)
Wired868 asked Browne to comment on VFFOTT’s proposal of a board member and who made the nomination. He responded that: “Fifa shall inform the new dispensation of knowledgeable jokers…”
Ever since Wallace’s election, Browne has repeatedly suggested that Fifa would send a normalisation committee to nullify the will of the electorate.
The list of TTFA board members for the current administration are:
William Wallace (president), Clynt Taylor (first vice-president), Susan Joseph-Warrick (second vice-president), Sam Phillip (third vice-president), Brent Sancho (TT Pro League), Keith Look Loy (TTSL), Rayshawn Mars (Northern FA), Richard Quan Chan (Southern FA), Keon Edwards (Eastern FA), Dwayne Thomas (Central FA), Joseph Taylor (Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association), Jamiyla Muhammad (Women’s League Football) and Phillip Fraser (SSFL).
Sancho, Phillip and Quan Chan are believed to be the only board members who represented the Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team while Mars and Look Loy played for the country at junior level.
Wallace would expect to start his term with support from at least eight board members—which includes Look Loy and representatives from the Northern FA, WoLF and the SSFL—and, as president, he holds the casting vote in case of a tie.
(Copyright Allan V Crane/CA-Images/Wired868)
What the TTFA constitution says about the football body’s board of directors:
Article 36 Powers of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors:
- a) shall pass decisions on all cases that do not come within the sphere of responsibility of the General Meeting or are not reserved for other bodies by law or under this Constitution;
- b) shall prepare and convene the Annual and Extraordinary General Meeting;
- c) shall appoint the chairmen, deputy chairmen and members of the standing committees;
- d) shall propose the members of the judicial bodies and the Audit and Compliance Committee to the General Meeting;
- d) may decide to set up ad-hoc committees if necessary at any time;
- e) shall compile the regulations for the organisation of standing committees and ad-hoc committees;
- f) shall appoint or dismiss the General Secretary on the proposal of the President;
- g) shall propose the independent external auditors to the General Meeting;
- h) shall appoint replacements for vacancies for the positions of President and Vice-President of the Board of Directors as well as vacancies in the judicial bodies, Electoral Committee or the Audit and Compliance Committee until the next General Meeting;
- i) shall issue regulations governing the conditions of participation in and the staging of competitions organised by TTFA;
- j) shall appoint the coaches for the representative teams and other technical staff;
- k) shall issue regulations stipulating how TTFA shall be organised internally, such as the Internal Organisation Regulations;
- l) shall ensure that the Constitution is applied and adopt the Executive arrangements required for its application;
- m) may dismiss a person or body or suspend a Member provisionally until the next General Meeting;
- n) may delegate tasks arising out of its area of authority to other bodies of TTFA or third parties;
- o) may appoint observers who may take part in the General Meeting without the right to debate or to vote.
- p) shall have the power to mortgage, pledge or otherwise create a security over any property of the TTFA, provided that: the security has been concluded in order to satisfy an urgent contractual obligation of the TTFA; the security does not surpass the amount of $1,000,000 (TTD).
(Copyright AFP 2014/Lluis Gene)
Article 37 Decisions
- The Board of Directors shall not engage in valid debate unless 50% of its members are present.
- The Board of Directors shall reach decisions by a majority (more than 50%) of the valid votes cast. In the event of a tied vote, the President shall have the casting vote. Voting by proxy or by letter is not permitted.
- Any Member of the Board of Directors must withdraw from the debate and from taking a decision if there is any risk or possibility of a conflict of interests
- The decisions taken shall be recorded in the minutes.
- The decisions taken by the Board of Directors shall come into effect immediately, unless the Board of Directors decides otherwise.
Editor’s Note: The proposed appointment of Sherwyn Dyer as representative of the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) was denied due to a procedural error. The ECFU must redo the process. This article was amended as a result.
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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.
