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Article 42.2 of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) Statutes states: Chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and other members of the standing committees may be members of the Executive Committee with the exception of those of the Referees Committee, who may not belong to the Executive Committee.
At present, Osmond Downer is the TTFA second vice-president and the chair of the Referees Committee. Should he be?
Downer was one of the framers of the TTFA Constitution in 2015, although the article in question was among the amendments passed in 2024—while the local football body was under normalisation by Fifa.
Wired868 asked Downer whether his current role as Referees Committee chair is unconstitutional, based on 42.2. He denied it.
“It is not unconstitutional, because the word is ‘may’,” Downer told Wired868. “You either shall have people [from the executive committee] or shall not.”
(via TTFA Media.)
Downer, a former St Augustine Secondary principal and international referee, went on to explain that the Constitution insists all members of the Referees Committee “shall be ex-referees”. As such, he noted, it was not always possible to find a capable person—such as himself—within the executive committee.
It was a reasonable explanation for the “may be members of the Executive Committee” part. But what about “with the exception of those of the Referees Committee”?
Did that not clearly rule Downer out from managing both roles?
“Who decides on the ‘may be’?” Downer asked, rhetorically. “Who is the decision-making body in every association outside of the general body? It is the executive committee.”
Wired868: “But what about ‘with the exception of’, and ‘who may not belong to’? Does that not clearly rule out anyone from the executive committee serving in that role?”
Photo: Dirk Allahar/ bcreative/ Wired868.
Downer: “[…] The desirable thing is to have a member of the executive committee on every standing committee for the accurate reporting of business… What happens when it is time for that committee to report to the executive committee?
“You don’t want to have someone [as chair of a standing committee] who is not on the executive committee, so long as you can help it. And this is for every standing committee, every single one!”
Downer pointed to the constitution of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), which, he said, permitted an executive committee member to sit on its referees committee.
Photo: Dirk Allahar/ bCreative/ Wired868.
Notably, the Fifa regulations states: “the chairman of the referees committee may be a member of the executive committee (provided the regulations of the relevant member associations allow it) but must be a former top-level match official.”
It means that Fifa leaves that issue up to individual member associations. Jamaica apparently allows it. However, TTFA members agreed on something else in 2024, when normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad presented proposed statutes in a general meeting.
Members were told at the time that if they did not accept the proposed statutes, the period of the normalisation committee would be extended.
Kieron Edwards hopes to replace Hadad at the helm of the TTFA.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868.
“There were so many things that were wrong in this statute,” said Downer. “We accepted things that we were crazy to—but we had to.”
Downer referenced the change in voting delegates, which gave huge powers to local top flight football clubs. TTPFL CEO Colin Wharfe, who was hired by Hadad, contested the election and this particular amendment was thought to give him an advantage.
“Clubs have 64 percent of the vote at our general meeting,” said Downer. “In England, it is 5 percent. In Jamaica, it is 15 percent…”
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868.
Not all amendments seemed to have a hidden agenda.
Downer referenced article 28.2 in the TTFA Statutes, which states: “if a quorum [of a meeting of the congress] is not achieved, a second congress shall be reconvened within 24 hours with the same agenda.”
The Constitution previously gave seven days for such a reconvened meeting. Downer suggested it was a straight case of copy and paste from the Hadad-led normalisation committee.
“And do you know why the Fifa Statutes said 24 hours?” asked Downer. “It is because they are all in the same five-star hotel. So, they can afford to reconvene in a matter of hours.
“How can we tell working people to come back to Couva within 24 hours?!”
It is practical that when your members flew halfway across the world and are all in the same hotel, that you can hold two meetings within 24 hours. Not so much if your members have to return to Sangre Grande or Diego Martin or Tobago, and then do the trek all over again on the following day.
“As we speak, there are amendments that are being worked upon,” said Downer. “[…] It needs amendment and will be amended.”
Fair enough. But, until those amendments are done, is he—as an executive committee member—unable to also serve as Referees Committee president?
“Chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and other members of the standing committees may be members of the Executive Committee with the exception of those of the Referees Committee,” states Article 42.2, “who may not belong to the Executive Committee.”
Downer insisted any suggestion that he cannot simultaneously serve on the executive committee and referees committee is “a bit fallacious”.
“The exception means you may or may not,” said Downer. “[…] I find that is so clear-cut…”
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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.
You say that Downer is “a former St Augustine Secondary principal.” That almost certainly means he was a secondary school teacher at some point.
If we lived in a country where you could trust the process, I would be willing to bet my brightly colored house against a dark horse that he did not teach English.