CFU member: Dear TTFA, you broke the unwritten rule against ‘witch hunts’

“Based on my experience as a president, nine years now, the parent bodies don’t like those witch hunts because they are considered counter-productive to football development.

“[…] There’s an unwritten script that was set up by the parent bodies and it seems your member association didn’t follow that script…”

The following is a letter written by the football president of a member association within the Caribbean Football Union (CFU)—in response to a request for support by Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan:

Photo: TTFA general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan (centre) accompanies president William Wallace (far right), office staff Sharon O’Brien (far left) and technical director Dion La Foucade (second from left) during a Women’s National U-20 Team practice session at the Ato Boldon Stadium training field in Couva on 7 February 2020.
(Copyright Daniel Prentice/Wired868)

Dear general secretary Ramdhan,


Your email and its contents are well received and understood. I was waiting for 24 hours to pass to see if the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, executive committee or a member association (MA) would [have] responded to your email. Maybe they did privately.

The CFU has changed over the years. Everything happens now in a vacuum and only a privileged few gets to know what’s happening. Sorry to tell you but every MA is on its own if it has an issue or problem. You have to report directly to Fifa or Concacaf appointed staff to bring your issue to light, then it will be resolved [based] on their findings.

The CFU is non-existent when it comes to assisting in solving conflicts. There [have] been great strides made on the administrative side: [with] the hosting of youth and girls tournaments and adopting new statutes to be in-line with Fifa and Concacaf. But it’s not a political force, as it was in the past.

The assistance and solidarity you are seeking would not be openly given by the majority of the countries, based on what has been put in place by the parent bodies and what line the CFU president and his executive committee is currently holding.

Photo: Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president Randy Harris.

Football administration is a tedious task and there is a fine line between development work and political [witch] hunts. Almost all presidents and new administrations in football go through a scenario of [having to decide] if the will devote time, money and resources on the past administrations’ dealings, or concentrate on the present and future.

Based on my experience as a president, nine years now, the parent bodies don’t like those witch hunts because they are considered counter-productive to football development.

After reviewing the documentation you presented, it seems that witch hunt was a part of your agenda. There’s an unwritten script that was set up by the parent bodies and it seems your MA didn’t follow that script.

I’m not picking sides but what I saw in the media, it seems there was a lot of miscommunication between the parent bodies and your MA. The three entities saw the situation differently.


Looking at it from far, it seems an injustice was done to your MA by removing a duly elected executive committee just under four months from being in office. I just wished cooler heads could [have] prevailed before it had reached this far.

This kind of drastic action could [have] happened to any MA if there is miscommunication or misperception of the situation on the ground in a particular country.

Photo: FIFA president Gianni Infantino (centre) and TTFA president David John-Williams (left) turn the sod at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva while then Sport Minister Darryl Smith pretends to help on 10 April 2017.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)

I wish you well in your fight and I hope the other Caribbean countries support you in your quest for information and reasoning as [you take] your case forward.

Regards,

Editor’s Note: Wired868 agreed to publish this letter from a CFU president anonymously.

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One comment

  1. 100 plus days after TTFA election the new administration is on the outside trying to get back inside. During this short period their preoccupation with the previous administration dealings have come back to bite them. In their first 30 days in office a called was made to move on with the people business and get out of election mode. We were no longer interested in DJW administration doings and by extension FIFA. There was no need to rock the boat you won the election the people trusted your administration to do better and you can’t help us by being kicked out. We indicated to you for the sake of progress just give DJW the credited for the things his administration did well. Furthermore we communicated that you should take these things and build on them in addition to your grand plans. Instead you went on to hire a large staff of people more than your financial budget can sustain. While ignoring the grassroots members in football community by recycling most of the same individuals from previous years. While you were busy trying to build a staff of people loyal to the elected partners, the enemy was plotting your demise. The trigger came the moment your technical team began fighting as “Crabs in a Barrel” you were careless and obsess with the past! The election you won mandate you to make T&T football better across all levels. Nothing was done in your first 100 days to address the core of our football troubles which is our developmental programs. The youth leagues are talking about cutting hundredths of teams and children from playing due to lack of funding and youth leagues mis-management. What are all these children to do if they have no leagues to compete in. While you are focus on fighting FIFA we have small struggling youth clubs doing there best to steer our young stars with little resources to no resources. The time spent digging into old TTFA matters that got you kick out of office, would have been better served trying to get prizes and monies owed to the many youth teams who are still waiting on awards over one year from completion of competition in leagues like RBNYL and others. We were never for a witch hunt. We elected you to fight the fights you can win to make football better for T&T…and any good leaders will know this! By you over playing your hand and prioritizing your efforts in the wrong places you are out…..What now? How are we better?

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