National coaches return appointment letters to TTFA

The coaches Terry Fenwick (senior team), Derek King (u-15 and assistant to Fenwick), Angus Eve (u-17 and assistant to King), Keith Jeffreys (U-15 and assistant to Angus Eve), Clayton Morris (assistant to Jeffreys on u-15s), Richard Hood (u-17 and u-20 Women/senior Women's team) and Stern John (assistant to King), Jason Spence, Wayne Sheppard, Ross Russell, Saron Joseph, Clayton Ince and Aaron Pollard, among others, have not been paid since they took up their respective jobs more than six months ago.

Notably absent from the gathering was Technical Director Dion La Foucade, who was the only member of the coaching staff to have been paid wages for the same period.

Clayton Morris, who along with Angus Eve and Jefferson George spearheaded the initiative, said both La Foucade and Robert Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee could not be reached, as calls to their cell phones for the past week or so, have gone unanswered.

Morris, captain of the country's now-famous 1989 Strike Squad which came within a point of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Italy 1990, said before the letter bearing the signatures of all the coaches, trainers, managers, physiotherapists, equipment managers etc, was officially handed to longstanding TTFA staff member Sharon O'Brien, the coaches were made to play a game of hide-and-seek to prevent vicious security officers from throwing them off the compound of the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva.

“We arrived there about 9:30 am and Eve, Wayne Sheppard and I went in by the office. I think it was when they realized what was happening that security officers were sent to keep the coaches off the compound. However, we eventually agreed to adhere to the COVID-19 restrictions of five persons being allowed inside the office and it was how we eventually handed over the letters,” Morris told Guardian Media Sports.

The coaches went equipped with a letter that said: “The technical staff of the T&T national football teams, have taken this position to collectively seek urgent information regarding our outstanding stipend/salaries/remuneration, in accordance to our individual contractual agreements with the TTFA, which should have been paid at each month-end.”

“At our inaugural meeting with you on April 29, 2020, as chairman of the Normalisation Committee of the TTFA, you said we will meet on an individual team basis, on an individual group basis, and we will be talking to all of you with respect to your individual contracts. We will sit with you all and really work out what it is we need to do to get the football to where it needs to go.”

The letter also stated: “In addition, you said 'discussions of coaches' contracts will be conducted with small individual group basis and what will be expected of each national team.”

Morris said none of the promises made by Hadad during their first meeting in April materialized and therefore yesterday's initiative was aimed at finding out what was happening with their salaries and what are the plans for football since the contracts and appointment of most of the coaches were set to expire on August 31st.

Hadad, a businessman by profession, and his committee of Nigel Romano (a former banker) and attorney Judy Daniel will have exactly a week before the coaches approach them for answers a second time. Morris assured the move has absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing court battle between the United TTFA and the sport's world governing body-FIFA, as it was just a follow-up from the April 29 meeting.

Eve who later spoke on behalf of the coaches said: “The coaches merely came here to deliver because we believe he didn't have the full copies of them (all of our contracts, all of our agreements) to the secretariat.” Eve said the fact that coaches were not allowed on the compound demonstrates the level of disrespect that they have been getting as coaches.

Meanwhile, the Coaches Association of T&T, which has been dormant for more than a decade, was revamped yesterday as more than 21 coaches signed on to an organization that can potentially prevent a recurrence of what coaches have endured for the past months under both the TTFA and the normalization committee. Yesterday, was also the first general meeting for the gathering with more discussions expected to take place soon, while more coaches are expected to join.

RELATED NEWS

‘Total disrespect!’ Coaches locked out of stadium, while trying to deliver letters to Hadad.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) head office at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva went into lockdown mode this morning but it was not as a safety measure against Covid-19.

Normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad’s staff was not trying to keep the novel coronavirus at bay—just the country’s national football team coaches.

At the perimeter of the stadium, security closed the gate and screened perspective entrants. Everyone barring coaches was free to drive inside.

Bewildered coaches—including Stern John, Terry Fenwick, Derek King, Richard Hood, Ross Russell and Dernelle Mascall—had only come to drop off their appointment letters for Hadad.

“[One or two] coaches got in early but when the rest of us got there, the security was given instructions not to let us in,” Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team head coach Angus Eve told Wired868. “[…] It demonstrates the level of disrespect we have been getting as coaches… We have Stern John, Derek King, Terry Fenwick, Ross Russell [here]; these are all people who have contributed heavily to Trinidad and Tobago football.

“That is total disrespect that we are not even able to drop off a document.”

Eve’s 117 senior international caps is a Trinidad and Tobago record while he also coaches at every level of the local game. He steers Club Sando in the Pro League as well as serial Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) winners Naparima College.

John is Trinidad and Tobago’s record goal scorer with 70 goals from 115 appearances—Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has 70 career international goals from 138 games.

Hadad, who was appointed by Fifa to head the local football body on 27 March, has done better than most defenders in the western hemisphere to keep both men at bay.

Ato Boldon Stadium security guards told Wired868 that they were ordered to keep the national coaches out by facility manager Jeffrey John. John said he was unable to comment, due to Sport Company protocols, so it was left to communications manager Kevin Garcia to explain why coaches were deemed persona non grata at the national venue today.

“It was an unfortunate mix-up,” said Garcia. “I understand eventually that five persons were let in via [Covid-19] protocol. From what I understand, it was a minor mix-up.”

Garcia said he did not know what the source of the ‘mix-up’ was and could not confirm if Jeffrey ordered the guards to keep national coaches out; or, if so, where his instruction came from.

The reference to the Covid-19 limit on public gatherings was, arguably, convenient since it took over an hour before the TTFA office staff sent word that it would allow five coaches in to deliver the letter. By then, they were aware that there was a media presence at the venue.

Even then, the five coaches—Clayton Morris, Wayne Sheppard, Jefferson George, Hood and Eve—were not invited to drive in but instead walked from the road outside the stadium and then back again to their vehicles.

The reason the coaches were there in the first place was Hadad’s refusal to speak or meet them since an introductory Zoom online meeting on 29 April. The HadCo Limited co-CEO said, at the time, that his next step would be to review their contracts before arranging payment.

After repeatedly failing to get on to Hadad directly or receive feedback from his assistant, Amiel Mohammed, or technical director, Dion La Foucade, the coaches decided to take their letters to the TTFA office themselves. Even that move, it turned out, came with its own perils.

“[Hadad] said he would get back to us with individual meetings to verify the contracts that we have,” said Eve. “It is about five months since then. All we came to do, very peacefully, is to deliver all of our documents and agreements to the secretariat.

“[..] Many of the coaches are contracted until August, so we felt it necessary that we come before the contracts are ended.”

Eve noted that he saw Tobago Chamber of Commerce president Diane Hadad, cousin of the normalisation committee president, discussing the grants provided to hoteliers. Coaches, he said, only want what they worked for.

“We are not asking for a grant, we are just asking for our salaries—the money that we signed for, that we worked for—that is all we are asking for,” he said. “We also have families and children and bills to pay. We are here observing all Covid protocol and we just want our voices to be heard.

“Are we going to be paid? Do we have a timeline? There has been no information at all coming back to us.”

Eve said the current situation prompted coaches to create their own coaches association, which is guaranteed a place within the formal TTFA structure—as well as a vote—once activated.

And, on the pavement outside the stadium in the blistering sunlight, Sheppard, the National Under-15 Team assistant coach, passed around a document for coaches to pledge their commitment to the new body. There were 20 technical staff members present, split into groups of five to avoid breaching Covid-19 regulations.

Eve said they are giving Hadad seven days to respond to their letter, although he stressed there was nothing ‘militant’ about that timeframe. He made a point of highlighting that the coaches steered clear of provocative rhetoric too.

“We are not trying to break down any doors,” said Eve. “We are doing it in the right manner, a respectable manner.”

Sweating on the pavement outside the taxpayers’ funded facility, it did not immediately appear that the respect was reciprocated.

National coaches barred from entering TTFA headquarters
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).

TWENTY-ONE national coaches converged on the outskirts of the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, on Tuesday, to deliver a document to the TT Football Association (TTFA) secretariat highlighting their non-payment of salaries since FIFA’s installation of the normalisation committee in mid-March.

The document was addressed to Robert Hadad, chairman of the normalisation committee, and also contained the coaches’ contracts and agreements, some of which come to an end on Monday.

National coaches Terry Fenwick, Angus Eve, Wayne Sheppard, Stern John and Ross Russell were among the bunch who peacefully gathered outside the venue from 9.30 am to pen their signatures before disbursal.

Eve, who chaired the informal meeting, revealed they have not been paid in six months and are now seeking to construct a coaches association to ensure their voices can be heard at the board level.

“On April 29, the chairman met with us via Zoom call on that day and he said to the coaches and technical staff that he would get back to us and do individual meetings to validate the contracts that we have and to verify that they are all board approved. It has been about six months since then and nothing has happened,” he stated.

In mid-July, TTFA office staff were finally paid after a four-month wait. However, since the removal of the democratically-appointed William Wallace executive in March by FIFA, who cited “financial mismanagement” and “massive debt” by the TTFA, under the new Hadad-led administration, coaches are yet to be paid.

After the T&T Government implemented lockdown restrictions in March to prevent the spread of covid19, all national team and club activity has been at a standstill. Although the coaches were unable to resume their respective training sessions due to the health crisis, to date, Hadad is yet to rectify their payment of salaries.

Eve added, “We’re very happy the staff got their salaries but we’re not asking for a grant, just our salaries. The money that we signed and worked for, it’s all we’re asking for. Especially in a time when there’s a pandemic and none of us have worked since last year. We also have family, children and bills to pay. We just want our voices to be heard.”

According to Naparima College football instructor, the majority of coaches were prevented from entering the Ato Boldon Stadium upon their arrival. Only a few, who arrived earlier, were allowed entry onto the compound.

When they approached the security booth to query their omission, the guard stated they were given instructions “by the office” to keep the gate closed. Eve dubbed this gesture, disrespectful.

“This action demonstrates the level of disrespect we have been getting as coaches. We are in charge of young people and developing young minds. Stern John, Terry Fenwick, Ross Russell. It’s a total disrespect for us to not even be able to drop off a document,” he said.

Veteran national goalkeeper Clayton Ince was one of the lucky ones to gain entry to the TTFA office at the stadium. Following Eve’s short meeting with the coaches and media, Ince was allowed to come to the gate and receive their document for delivery.

When he arrived, the security then allowed four additional coaches to enter alongside Ince. Eve, Sheppard, Richard Hood and another local tutor joined Ince to deliver their request to the TTFA secretariat.

The former T&T midfielder Eve indicated that several arrangements and contracts were due to expire at the end of August and coaches wanted to ensure their outstanding salaries would be paid.

He stated that coaches have made multiple attempts to contact TTFA officials such as technical director Dion La Foucade and Amiel Mohammed for an update on their salaries. All attempts proved futile.