Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
The board of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has terminated the contract of Men’s National Senior Team head coach Dennis Lawrence with immediate effect.
Lawrence’s dismissal was one of several big decisions made by the new board, who met for the first time yesterday in a marathon nine hour session.
Lawrence was fired on 14 December 2019.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
New TTFA president William Wallace, according to a release by the TTFA Media, informed Lawrence of the decision by telephone immediately after it was made. Wallace and Lawrence’s representatives should meet soon to discuss the ‘terms of separation’.
Some of the other big decisions taken yesterday were the hiring of former Referees Department head Ramesh Ramdhan to replace Camara David as general secretary—after the latter resigned his post—as well as the appointments of Technical, Emergency, Club Licensing, Competitions, Finance, Legal, Player Status, Sports Medicine Committees. World Cup 2006 standout and ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop was also announced as a new ‘TTFA Ambassador’.
Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) president Keith Look Loy, a former Fifa development officer and technical director, was appointed chairman of the technical committee that includes Michael Grayson, Ken Elie, Jinelle James, Norris Ferguson and Richard Piper. A North American scouting programme was also approved to operate under the supervision of the Technical Committee.
(Copyright Annalicia Caruth/Wired868)
Kendall Tull was appointed as chairman of the Finance Committee, Women’s League Football (WoLF) general secretary Jamiyla Muhammad heads the Club Licensing Committee, Roger Evelyn will chair the Sports Medicine Committee and vice-president Sam Phillip is the chair of the Competitions Committee, which will include the general secretary of each zone as well as Muhammad.
Pro League CEO Julia Baptiste and former WoLF president Sharon O’ Brien were both named to the Player Status Committee, which does not yet have a chairperson while appointments to the Referees Committee was deferred and the body will continue to function as it did previously.
The TTFA board will select a Legal Committee soon.
The TTFA Emergency Chairman includes Wallace and his first vice-president Clynt Taylor—as mandated by the constitution—along with board members Dwayne Thomas, Richard Quan Chan, Joseph Taylor and Look Loy.
The TTFA board members who met yesterday 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) and Jamiyla Mohammed (Women’s League Football).
Look Loy is also the TTSL president and a TTFA board member.
(Copyright Nicholas Bhajan/CA-Images/Wired868)
Phillip Fraser (SSFL) was absent while the Eastern Counties Football Union, Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago and Tobago Football Association are to still to submit or have representatives accepted by the board, for various reasons.
The following are the decisions taken by the TTFA board, which were relayed to the public via the TTFA Media:
- The proposal submitted by former general secretary Camara David for a mutual termination of his services was accepted. Ramesh Ramdhan was appointed as his replacement, with immediate effect.
- The services of Dennis Lawrence as Senior Men’s National Team head coach were terminated with immediate effect following a majority decision by the board. Immediately following the decision of the board, president Wallace contacted Mr Lawrence via telephone to inform him of the decision and wished him well in his personal and professional life while also thanking him for his services to the Senior Men’s Team. The TTFA president and Lawrence’s representative(s) will meet to discuss the terms of separation. Lawrence’s replacement will be announced shortly.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
- The Emergency Committee was appointed for a four year term, 2019 to 2023. Chairpersons and/or members were appointed to six other Committees, including Club Licensing, Competitions, Finance, Legal, Player Status, Sports Medicine.
- The Technical Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Keith Look Loy. This committee will supervise a new technical and management structure for TTFA national teams and technical programmes. A North American scouting programme under the supervision of the Technical Committee was also approved.
- The Technical Committee will review the structure, personnel and finances of the Elite Youth Programme and make recommendations to the Board in January 2010.
- Discussions on the technical staffs for the Women’s Under-20 and Under-17 Teams continued and decisions will be disclosed in due course, ahead of the Concacaf Women’s Championships in February and March 2020 respectively.
(Copyright Daniel Prentice/CA-Images/Wired868)
- TTFA will not sanction the League of Champions created by the previous administration as it includes a majority of clubs that are suspended by the TTFA’s General Meeting and/or their league.
- The T-League Commission will be revisited as part of the general move towards the formation of a new TTFA elite league in 2020.
- The services of an engineer will be secured to provide a comprehensive report on the Home of Football, which remains closed to the public while several approvals—including Fire Service and the Certificate of Completion—remain outstanding.
- The Sheldon Phillips legal matter will be immediately withdrawn from the Industrial Court and an out of court settlement agreed with Phillips.
- Shaka Hislop was appointed TTFA Ambassador. Additional Ambassadors will be appointed in approaching months.
Editor’s Note: Click HERE to read review of Dennis Lawrence’s tenure as Soca Warriors head coach pays the ultimate price for win ratio that dropped to 6 per cent in 2019; TTFA board expected to name new coach before Christmas.
Or HERE for a review of Dennis Lawrence’s tenure as Soca Warriors head coach in quotes.
New Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron “Bo” Edwards is set to be installed as technical and development Read more
Kieron “Bo” Edwards is the new president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA). Edwards, the Eastern Football Association Read more
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has confirmed its list of candidates for the Saturday 13 April Extraordinary Congress, Read more
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has officially outlawed former national youth coach Terrence Marcelle and his club, Toda-World Read more
Former Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach and 2006 World Cup defender Dennis Lawrence has joined the Read more
It turns out that the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-20 Team were not the only party unprepared for last Read more
A lot of new but all of same things, names and recycled ideas. How many of these people had a stab at solving T&T football in the past….did they wake up this morning with bright new solutions to our problems
Where is the man on street, in the back corners and alleys that can come and represent the people and not worry about being politically correct, filling his pocket and jockeying to get in or stay in the good old boys club. Everyone who follow our football know the names of these grassroots football icons who
are still producing our next football star. Get those guys a seat on the table…
We voted for betterment…we still waiting so far there are old names in new made up posts, sound good positions. We have ten people to do a one job, they stopping of work started by the old administration to re-start it down the road so as to take credit…it’s not going to fool the people…We know what DJW did and did not do…give him his credits where he earned it…and for the areas where he failed we have already spoken in the election.
We are looking for more from this administration….it’s early still but in about 30 more days the honeymoon period is over…
Selby we still waiting for the answers to the 40 questions you demanded from DJW not too long before you mysteriously went quiet. Now you bleating again.
Keep you damn ass quiet til you answer for them 40 questions and what kept you silent
Lasana,
Can you kindly ask the TTFA President and Board of Directors the single important question:
What is the financial status of the TTFA and what are funds for their operation and servicing of the huge debt that stands at approximately $60 million ???
Kindly also enquire wether the termination of national oath Denis Lawrence and the acceptance of the separation of General Secretary Camara David, would be made with immediate cash payment .
Until those answers are forthcoming please spare the Trinidad and Tobago Football public stakeholders any report from this TTFA administration.
Insolvent simply means bankrupt – No Money – Shop Closed.
The TTFA Constitution does NOT provide for the Association to negotiate any loans other than funding from CONCACAF and FIFA, Presidents of both Organizations they choose to snub and
at the formal opening ceremony of the sole asset that has any opportunity to generate meaningful revenue. The Constitution provides for a maximum of $1 million mortgage on any asset and they also chose to snub those who provided the finance for construction of that asset, but the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago whose government approved providing some 17 acres for the construction of that asset, the TTFA Home of Football.
Nothing else Matters . Those are the answers and statements required from the TTFA President Wallace and his Board of Directors at this time.
Selby Browne
President
VFFOTT
Perhaps nothing else matters TO YOU. But to the rest of us with an interest in national football and advancing the game, there is a lot more to be said about the way forward for football. I would say it in Cantonese or Mandarin or some other language from the same country if I could but here it is in plain English: the November 24 vote said unequivocally that neither you nor DJW, your former boss/patron/benefactor, has any contribution to make that the football community is interested in at the moment.
We have elected a bunch of credible–check the word in the dictionary–people to replace you.
Your best bet, I suggest, is to be quiet and let football people think you have a little bit of shame.