FORMER captain Kenwyne Jones believes the decision by FIFA to suspend the TT Football Association (TTFA) has been in the making for 20 years due to years of poor governance.
Jones, who played 91 appearances between 2003 and 2017, was a member of the squad that represented at the 2006 World Cup.
Jones, speaking with Newsday about the current situation facing T&T football said, “To be honest, this is the culmination of bad governance for the last 20 years. Administratively, we’ve been lacking. I think as a federation (TTFA) and we’ve seen time and time again we’ve had unfit persons in the office of the federation.”
FIFA suspended the TT Football Association (TTFA) with immediate effect, on Thursday, after the United TTFA failed to meet the deadline in withdrawing their court case. They needed to withdraw the case at 3 pm on Wednesday.
United TTFA has not given up the fight against FIFA to remove the executive of the United TTFA and install a normalisation committee to run local football.
In another twist on Friday, the United TTFA sought to withdraw its withdrawal of its lawsuit against FIFA.
The William Wallace-led United TTFA remains adamant that its challenge should be played out in the local courts since it is a statutory body.
Jones said he is hurt after FIFA’s decision and the United TTFA’s approach was heartless. “Now that we’ve been suspended I think it is a very sad day for T&T football because this has never happened…I think they have been very callous in the way that they went about meeting deadlines and making decisions that could have affected us all.
“Their lack of concern for the generations (of footballers) and the stakeholders, mainly the youths of T&T is appalling and to see that it has come to this stage where we have been suspended now it puts a lot of young people’s lives in the balance.”
Jones, who is hopeful the situation will end soon, said new blood is required in local administration.
“My message is to the younger generation, my generation of players to be educated, to get themselves involved in football (administration) in the country because it is high time that we have a changing of the guards. For far too long we have people who have been in administration of football that have been around for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years.”