Ramesh Ramdhan, general secretary of the T&T Football Association (TTFA), has said he will not be drawn into an unnecessary fight with Keith Look Loy, the former chairman of the TTFA technical committee, over alleged information being leaked to the new FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, which has taken control of T&T football.
Look Loy, "I had no issue with Ramdhan giving information to Hadad because he is an employee of the TTFA."
Ramdhan, a former World Cup referee now turned football administrator has been providing requested information to the Normalisation committee which was installed last week, is being led by businessman Robert Hadad, and include Attorney Judy Daniel and retired banker Nigel Romano, a director and partner of Moore T&T.
The controversial former TTFA technical committee chairman, who is also a member of the board of directors of TTFA by virtue of being the T&T Super League’s President said if Ramdhan wanted to take a political position, he would have to resign because he (Look Loy) recognises Wallace as the president of the TTFA.
Contacted on Friday, Ramdhan made it clear that when he received a letter from football’s world governing body, FIFA, requesting that he stay on to help the normalisation committee last Thursday, he immediately telephoned William Wallace, the former president TTFA, to inform him.
He said Wallace told him to do what he had to do and noted that the sport should not be allowed to suffer at any time.
Ramdhan, who made it clear he was not beholden to the persons who appointed him as general secretary as his position was an independent one, is directing Look Loy to the TTFA’s constitution which gives him the right to share info, being the go-to man from FIFA, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), the Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), as well as all other football-related bodies on matters.
According to the TTFA constitution, the general secretariat shall carry out all the administrative work of TTFA under the direction of the general secretary. The members of the general secretariat are bound by the Internal Organisation Regulations and shall fulfil the given tasks in good faith:
1. The general secretary is the chief executive officer of the general secretariat;
2. He shall be appointed on the basis of an agreement governed by private law and shall have the necessary professional qualifications;
3. He shall be responsible for: a) implementing decisions passed by the general meeting and board of directors in compliance with the president’s directives; b) attending the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors, emergency committee and the standing and ad-hoc committees; c) organising the general meeting and meetings of the board of directors and other bodies; d) compiling the minutes for the meetings of the general meeting, board of directors, emergency committee and standing and ad-hoc committees; e) ensuring that the accounts of TTFA are properly managed and up to date; f) the correspondence of TTFA; g) relations with the members, committees, FIFA, CONCACAF and CFU; h) organising the general secretariat; i) the appointment and dismissal of staff working in the general secretariat upon approval of the president; j) the appointment and dismissal of managerial staff, upon approval of the president and the board of directors.
4. The general secretary may not be a delegate at the general meeting or a member of any body of TTFA.
Ramdhan, who has not been paid salaries for four months and was the one who borrowed monies to ensure staff members were paid their February wages, has dismissed calls by the former chairman of the technical committee Look Loy for him to resign as general secretary if he wants to get into the politics of football.
“I came into the United TTFA to serve football and to date, I still want to serve the sport. I have been liaising with Hadad and sharing information with respect to football,” said Ramdhan, telling Guardian Media Sports that he has spoken to Hadad about the non-payment of TTFA staff for the month of March.
Contacted yesterday, Wallace, did not see any problems with Ramdhan’s commitment as secretary.
“If he is the secretary of the normalisation committee then he has to act as such and that is it. I do not see anything that points to Ramdhan getting into the politics of the game. Ramdhan has also taken the position to be secretary, which is fine for me,” Wallace said.
SOURCE: T&T Guardian