The call by Commissioner Gary Griffith for “United TTFA” to end its local High Court action against world football governing body FIFA, has been met with a response by Keith Look Loy, spokesman of the group that also includes sidelined Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president Williams Wallace and his three vice-presidents.
“We are not the bad guys here,” Look Loy insisted, “We are playing by the rules.” Wallace and his three vice-presidents laid a claim before the High Court in May, challenging FIFA’s decision to replace their four-month TTFA executive with its Normalisation Committee on March 17.
FIFA’s laws forbid its member associations from resolving disputes against it in local courts and has implied that the country could be facing a ban-- possibly as early as next month --from international football. FIFA has mandated that Wallace and company should take the dispute to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) instead.
“Nobody wins if we go down the road via the local court, especially for our country, for our football development, and for the dreams of many, not just players, but the hundreds of thousands of supporters who would lose the opportunity to dream of one day seeing a repeat of what we achieved in 2006,” Griffith’s statement said.
“The end cannot justify the means by the present course of action, because as with any mission, one cannot just look at the short-term result, but instead look towards the domino effect, as it relates to what would trigger another reaction by FIFA. This is what any good leader, manager, administrator, player, supporter or patriot of football would do in this situation.”
Look Loy suggests that his group had been forced into its current action.
“We went the CAS route. FIFA refused to pay its share of the CAS fee. We came to Trinidad. They said they would not recognise the court,” stated Look Loy. “They lost the case and now they going to a second court, although they said they would not recognise a Trinidad and Tobago court. We have been trying to get mediation since March.”
A former national hockey player, Commissioner Griffith felt the future of local football was at stake. “Unfortunately, this is not a time to remain silent, as it is the future of our football that can be affected, and it may take years to recover if we go a certain direction,” Griffith said.
He added: “Now is a time for us to make a decision to find a way to rectify this situation via dialogue, compromise and mutual respect between all relevant parties, because the present agenda to fight a war with FIFA in a local court may not be the best way, as everyone would lose, which no-one wants, inclusive of FIFA, United TTFA and the many football players and supporters in this country.”
Look Loy’s reply was that the ex-TTFA executive had tried unsuccessfully to mediate. “The TTFA has written six times to Infantino (and) FIFA,” Look Loy said. “We have been the ones trying to seek mediation. This idea by Gary Griffith is not a new one and FIFA has not even responded.”