Football stakeholders have three weeks to mull over a proposed new FIFA-approved constitution and the end of January to approve it or risk elections for a new executive being put off again.
However, both these time-lines and some of the proposed amendments are meeting with strong objection from at least one stakeholder.
On Friday evening, a draft constitution was sent to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association membership by the TTFA.
The TTFA notice stated in part: “We would like to invite you to provide feedback and comments on the draft by 31 December 2023. The NC (Normalisation Committee) and FIFA will then distil this feedback and revert.
The intention is to convene an EGM (Emergency General Meeting) by 28 January 2024 to approve the Statutes.”
Commenting on the document on the ISports radio programme on Saturday, NC chairman Robert Hadad said: “The stakeholders now have the draft of what FIFA considers but we do have to have some back and forth...”
He admitted that, “we have some corrections to make. Already we seeing some of the members sharing some corrections with us and I’m sure they would have some concerns as to why the new constitution looks the way it is, but we tried our best when FIFA was here a few weeks ago—they met with all the stakeholders and a lot of the stakeholders’ input has been considered in the new constitution.”
Hadad said that under the current TTFA constitution, 60 days’ notice was needed for elections, hence the need for the amendments to be agreed to by the end of January. The NC is due to demit office on March 31, 2024.
No new constitution, no elections
However, asked what would happen if the majority of the TTFA membership did not agree to the proposed changes, Hadad said: “They will have to keep going back and forth with FIFA,” and elections, “will have to wait until the constitution is approved.”
President of the Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago Selby Browne is not one who is prepared to sign off on the proposed changes. In the first instance, he took issue with the time at which the draft constitution has been presented.
Noting that the mandate to produce a new constitution had been on the NC’s plate since March 17, 2020, when it was constituted by FIFA, Browne said it was “absurd” the time it has taken for the constitution proposals to be presented to the stakeholders.
“One of the first things that they should have done...was constitute a committee of the members to look into a draft constitution,” he told the Express.
Browne said the December deadline is, “out of place and absurd because you have had this to be done since 2020...In my view, like was done in Guyana (when a NC was in place there), call the election and let whoever the new executive is, organise their new constitution.”
On Saturday, however, Hadad emphasised that “this is a FIFA job...This is the constitution that they want. They did meet with the stakeholders and they did try to represent the feedback that they got from the stakeholders in this constitution...You’re not going to please everybody, so it’s about getting the majority to agree.”
Browne however, disagreed with “a host of things” in the amendments, including the right for clubs in Tier One and Tier Two of the new T&T Premier Football League to have voting rights in elections.
More power to clubs
Hadad said the proposed new constitution would see clubs having more votes than zones and associations, contrary to what currently exists. Some 17 Tier One and Tier Two clubs would have one delegate each being allowed two votes.
Browne, though, challenged the legitimacy of the Tier One and Tier Two clubs under the current constitution.
He said: “Tier One and Tier Two does not exist under the existing constitution. They are seeking to legitimise this TTPFL which is an illegitimate entity in the quite alive TTFA constitution.
“The TTFA constitution exists and it is what you are (currently) governed by, which provides for a Pro League and a Super League,” he stressed. “That league that just brings people together hodge-podge is not a legal league under the TTFA, whether FIFA is putting money into it or Government putting money into it.”
Browne said he will “definitely not” be agreeing to such an amendment. “You went and do something that is out of the order and you coming now to amend it? Who you coming to, me to amend it?” Browne asked.
And he maintained it was the TTFA membership, not FIFA who should be responsible for amending the constitution.
“We are being railroaded into coming to a decision in three weeks (sic).”
Hadad’s hope, though is that after “active discussions,” at month’s end, consensus will be reached within the current time-frame. “I think we did our job,” he said.
“We’ve cleaned up the debt, we’ve got football back to a certain extent back on track. It’s not a perfect job but we think that we have a nice momentum going now and we would love to see the new Ex-co (executive committee) come in the early part of April.”
SOURCE: T&T Express