Jameson Rigues, the former interim president of the T&T Super League is offering his services and expertise to the members of the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) to find a solution to the problems affecting the sport of football.
Rigues, who contested the leadership of the organisation last year against former 'Strike Squad' defender and captain Clayton Morris and lost, said he intends to chat with Robert Hadad, chairman of the NC to agree on common grounds moving forward.
Rigues, the First vice president of the T&TSL in his letter dated June 8 to Hadad, stated: "The constantly declining state of T&T football is desperately calling for a proper T&T Football Plan (TTFP), a vision for football in 2030. The plan is a set of ambitious, yet tangible goals that everyone in T&T football can work towards over the next eight years, at least, as we strive to become the most popular and well organized footballing nation in CONCACAF and qualify for consecutive FIFA World Cups from 2026."
He noted: "Along the way, football will nurture a lifetime connection to the game for all our people in all our diversity. We all want football to live and breathe beyond the 90 minutes.
The (TTFP) is a collaboration involving all of Football’s stakeholders; everyone from national, state and private enterprise to the community participants, from top Tier clubs to fans on the bleachers and in digital communities. The TTFP represents the game’s collective wisdom at this point in time. The plan will give the sense that the game is on the move and that our best years are ahead of us."
Hadad and his members - attorney Judy Daniel, the deputy chairman and businessmen Nigel Romano and Trevor Gomez may feel that they are in need of much-needed help following the disclosure of a $98.5 million debt, discontent among the membership, no development programmes, no functional committees, and a senior national team that just failed to emerge from the first round of the FIFA World Cup Concacaf Qualifiers recently.
According to Rigues, "We need to harness the unity of purpose, energy, confidence and ambition that exists in T&T football, explore the potential of our youth in the decision-making process and ensure that there is a new breed of qualified individuals in leadership roles.
To me, it makes no sense hiring and firing coaches, expecting results from matches, without a clear national football plan.
Like any game of football, the TTFP will inevitably spark debate and become a contest of ideas where the outcome cannot be easily predicted. That’s the nature of any grand undertaking.
In developing this plan, football must make a decision not to be limited by the game’s resources in 2021.
There must be a firm conviction that football’s best years are ahead of us. This growth will bring the promise of greater revenues and new income streams, enough to fund the future. But I can say with certainty that without an inclusive national plan with a long-term vision,
T&T football cannot possibly reach its potential."
SOURCE: T&T Guardian