There are reports that two pieces of equipment, valued at approximately $120, 400 have gone missing from the controversial Home of Football in Balmain, Couva. And it is now gaining the attention of the T&T Police Service which is headed by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, the General Secretary of T&T Football Association Ramesh Ramdhan said on Tuesday.
The equipment appeared to have gone missing just before November 24, 2019, Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Elections of the TTFA at the Home of Football.
Ramdhan revealed that he made the report on March 10 and followed it up with a conversation with Griffith, who promised that the matter will be investigated.
According to the former World Cup referee, he can think about no one else who can take the equipment than those who were there before his administration, noting that despite having a security presence at the Home of Football, thieves still made away with the equipment which was bought in the name of the T&T Football Association. “The money that was used to purchase the equipment came from the FIFA Forward Project, and it is said to be worth much more than the amount stated on an invoice in my possession,” Ramdhan explained.
Contacted on Tuesday John-Williams said he had no comment on the matter, while calls to the cell phone of the Police Commissioner -Griffith, went unanswered.
Guardian Media Sports learnt recently that John-Williams filed a report with the police on the claim of alleged fraud against a former employee of the embattled football association. It is said the employee took legal actions against his employers for wrongful dismissal a few years ago, but in his attempt to justify the amount he was being paid in court, gave a false statement (wrong amount) which John-Williams believed should have been challenged for fraud.
Ramdhan and his team which comprised president William Wallace and his vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Sam Phillip and Susan Joseph-Warrick, convincingly defeated former president David John-Williams and his team at the AGM of November 24, with Wallace getting the nod over his John-Williams 26-20 for the post of presidency.
He said since then the world governing body for the sport - FIFA, has decided to send a Normalisation Committee to manage the affairs of local football, a decision that is being challenged through the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
Ramdhan said Wallace and the TTFA believe FIFA's decision to remove the duly elected officers from office was done without merit and or logic.
SOURCE: T&T Guardian