Tim Kee: I am my own man

As a Federation we have been through some rough times, scarred internationally, regionally and even on the national level but never have we lost focus a sure sign that our faith is intact and together once again we shall overcome.

Like the proverbial ostrich, I am not prepared to bury my head in the sand at what has been both the recent and antecedent memory of our Federation but as President, what I am prepared to do is trod the beaten paths that would bring about healing to those who have been wounded, reconciliation for those who have been ostracized and redemption for the many who have been left behind.

This is the time for restoration.

This is the time when all hands are needed on deck and none must be left behind.

This is the time when as lovers of the beautiful game we need to stand together and mend the breeches, which have been broken.

These are serious times, in which we live, not for the faint and timid but for those who dare to be strong and those who dare to be brave.

Today I stand on the structure, which was built by Presidents past. Today, I am the beneficiary of the collective wisdom of not only past presidents but also past national executives. I have come to this Presidency with no grandiose perception of who I am and what I can do except to confess that my goal is to leave local football a little better than I have found it.

I am here to serve. The ascendancy to this Presidency has humbled me because the expectations to which I have been linked tell me that there are many among us who still view me in the right light for which I am grateful.

I will be an inclusive President that will leave none on the peripheries.

I know I have come to the table with many ideas but I will never be averse to listening intently with a view to acquire all other knowledge and truths that would set us on the pedestal upon which this Federation should stand.

I will welcome divergent thought, difference of opinion because generally it is the antithesis that defines the thesis and open doors from a new synthesis that comes with synergies that work to make us all better.

In short, under my stewardship, no voice will be silenced; no idea suppressed and no thought expressed will be left unconsidered.

I would just like to touch briefly on two points before I close. The first is respond to Mr. Colin Murray who has warned me against vindictiveness. My friend, I have heard your warning and let me allay all fears that nothing that Raymond Tim Kee does is ever marked by vindictiveness.

I am normally guided by a clear presentation of the facts that are couched in logic and reason. In our situation, not disimilar to other organizations in a similar situation changes will be made but rest assured that they will not be based on vindictiveness but rather on sound organisational best practices. These are my guiding principles, which have allowed me to live a successful life both within and without football. So my friend and all others, in this regard there is no need to fear.

The second is what seems to be an ongoing discourse that Raymond Tim Kee is a puppet President.

Those who know me within football before knows that Raymond Tim Kee is his own man and a fully made one as well. I am not here to be dictated to by anyone. I am here to facilitate open discussion and develop discourse that would assist in ensuring that the TTFF is the most dominant and successful Federation in the CONCACAF. That is my raison d’être as President.

So in closing let us together build a strong team; there is no “I” in team. Let us lay to rest our personal egos and build an ego for all Trinibagonians so that when our teams run on to the field of play we all can be possessed with the arrogance that in spite of the situations we face, we shall emerge victorious.

I wish to thank you all for this opportunity to serve as President. I solicit your prayers, your help and your guidance to ensure that as a team and as a Federation, we will never fail.

Let us put Trinidad and Tobago football right where it belongs among the best in CONCACAF and thus make our nation proud.

God bless you and I thank you.

RELATED NEWS

New TTFF president must earn the nation’s trust.

“I don’t know very much about the gentleman who is taking over,” British attorney Michael Townley told Wired868. “I do know he was vice president for a decade when so many unethical things were going on. So I can’t see that he will exert much influence in the right direction given that he has never done anything to help before.”

Today, at the Cascadia Hotel, Guardian Life executive Raymond Tim Kee is set to become the third Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) president in just over a year. His acceptance speech is sure to be peppered with warm sentiments, he will shake hands firmly, smile and promise blue skies.

But Tim Kee will not erase the doubts regarding his ascension. Not yet, anyway.

Townley has never visited Trinidad and Tobago for more than a few days at a time and, even then, you can probably count his arrivals at the Piarco International Airport with one hand. But as the lead lawyer for 13 World Cup 2006 players in one of football’s most scandalous cases, he spent many hours studying the behaviour of the local football organising body.

And, devoid of sentiment, Townley sees no reason for excitement at this change at the TTFF’s helm.

It is hard to dismiss emotion at ground zero, though.

Trinidad and Tobago football needs someone to open a window, let some sunlight in and start sweeping. And it is easy to be seduced when Tim Kee, a salesman by profession, promises to do just that.

Football is considered a poor man’s sport. But that is only at ground level.

National Security Minister Jack Warner, a school teacher by profession, became a millionaire from football without ever kicking a ball.

The ongoing World Cup bonus dispute revealed that millions of dollars went straight into accounts under Warner’s supervision without even stopping at the TTFF’s offices first. And the High Court case only singles out funds for one qualifying campaign.

God alone knows how much money might have been diverted in almost four decades as a football administrator if Warner was so compelled.

The influence of his position also made Warner one of the Caribbean’s most recognisable names and paved the way for his successful entry into the political arena.

Even now, the evidence suggests that Warner refuses to walk away from the game.

In April, the United National Congress (UNC) Chairman used his political office in an attempt to starve the TTFF of funds after he accused the local body of failing to back his chosen successor for the post of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president. Sport Minister Anil Roberts has waged war with the TTFF ever since.

Tim Kee says that his impending presidency will bring a halt to friction between the TTFF and the government. But who could sanction such a ceasefire but Warner himself?

In the short-lived 2012 TTFF election campaign, Tim Kee was vocally supported by Central Football Association (CFA) president and a close Warner aide, Brian Layne. The other presidential nominee, Colin Murray, surprisingly withdrew his challenge after nominations closed for personal reasons that he refused to disclose.

Whispers within the football circuit hinted that Murray, a marketing and events manager, was asked to step down by his superiors at Carib Brewery.

If true, it would suggest that the forces working in Tim Kee’s favour are very powerful indeed.

The new TTFF President emphatically denied any link with Warner and insisted that he could not be tempted by money. The latter is a curious statement since the gathering of wealth is considered to be an incurable compulsion by the affluent and, in any case, the post at stake is an unpaid one.

Warner has also demonstrated the clout that comes with the position of “football boss” and Tim Kee, an active member of the People’s National Movement and a former State board chairman, is surely not immune to the allure of influence.

None of the aforementioned is proof that Tim Kee is at the behest of Warner or drawn by personal greed, of course.

Tim Kee pointed out that it would be impossible for anyone to be nominated without winning the support of a past or present Warner ally and it is a valid point.

It is also true that he has no reputation for being pliant, even though he spent over a decade within an organisation that operated on the say-so of a non-executive member.

He vowed to give independent auditors a free reign with the TTFF’s accounting books and also promised to offer full cooperation to the High Court in resolving the long-standing bonus dispute with its most successful squad.

Both would be crucial first steps as Tim Kee tries to gain the confidence of a public that is arguably more wary of political figures than ever before.

There will be no honeymoon period for the new President. Trinidad and Tobago’s football has been stagnant for too long and it is time to move forward now.

Jamaica has usurped the two-island republic as the Caribbean’s dominant football force while Cuba, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti and Grenada also threaten to leave the “Soca Warriors” in the dust.

Trinidad and Tobago’s present FIFA ranking of 79th means that locals can no longer qualify for a work permit in Britain, which has been a finishing school to native talent like Dwight Yorke, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones and dozens more for over two decades.

Tim Kee cannot afford to get it wrong. So, for the sake of the local game, football stakeholders are left praying that he is true to his word.

Wired868 wishes the new TTFF President a successful term, which helps aid the revival of the country’s football fortunes.

But Tim Kee should be warned that such kindness should not be mistaken for weakness.

Townley’s own scepticism cannot be easily dismissed.

“I think it is a shame that the only person who is contesting this TTFF election was very much involved when all of this mess was going on,” he said. “That doesn’t sound like a new broom to me.”

Tim Kee, we hope, will eradicate such doubts.