CHAIRMAN OF the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) Referees Committee, Osmond Downer, said the TTFA are awaiting the release of funds from the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT) to start the payment of arrears—amounting to hundreds of thousand of dollars—owed to referees, instructors and assessors for the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) season that ended in June 2024.
Downer was reacting to a complaint from referees that the TTFA’s new executive failed to meet the deadline of December 31 promised by the president Kieron Edwards in a meeting with stakeholders, following the election of the new executive back in April 2024.
In an Instagram post by Trinidad Sports Reality on December 31, it was indicated that referees were left “disillusioned and questioning” the TTFA’s commitment to its stakeholders.
At issue is the overdue payments of stipends for services provided by those stakeholders for previous installments of TTPFL Tier 1 and Tier 2 competitions which concluded last June. The cost of those services are estimated at $2,000 per game for one referee, two assistant referees, a fourth official, plus one assessor.
“This promise came after months of mounting frustration as officials faced financial strain while continuing to uphold the integrity of the game on the field,” stated the post.
Downer said the new TTFA executive board was only made aware of the “massive” amount owed when the administration began their new term.
But the lifetime referee advocate acknowledged that the TTFA president had made the promise to deliver payment by year’s end, expecting that SporTT would have released funds for the 2024/2025 TTPFL season at the start of the new campaign last December.
“But that did not come to pass,” Downer said. “The fact is the money is not available yet. The new year is starting and all the money for 2024 has been used up, and all the money for TTPFL has been used up and not paid (the) referees.”
Downer explained that the new administration had inherited this issue of the non-payment that was supposed to have been treated during the tenure of the Normalisation Committee (NC). It was their responsibility to ensure settling of outstanding sums, he said.
Downer, who departed the presidency of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees’ Association (TTFRA) to occupy the TTFA’s Referee Committee’s chairmanship, said the budget for the 2023/2024 TTPFL season included line items for payment of those stipends to referees, instructors and assessors.
“The grant for the payment of those fees was not used for payment. That was used for other things,” indicated Downer, who was not authorised to disclose or explain how the budgeted money for that line item was utilised differently. “To put it very simply, the funds were not used for what they were intended.”
Downer also faulted the NC for failing to form standing committees, contrary to the FIFA constitution—the referees committee was one such—during their tenure, a situation which ensured the matter was punted down the field.
Downer said it was “passing strange” that the affected stakeholders failed to raise their voices during the NC’s tenure but indicated that the new executive ensured the democratic processes to allow the referees to have a voice within the TTFA. And arrangements are being made to stay up-to-date with their current payments while embarking on addressing the debt.
“The TTFA is expecting funds from SporTT and the payment of those fees would be a priority,” stressed Downer.
“That is why I can tell you now we worked all of yesterday (December 31)—the TTPFL is only running for one month—and by Friday (tomorrow), the referees and the assessors will be paid the December fees; a process which should have been followed every month for the past two years, but was not done.” Downer further stated: “New people are in charge and we are not going to allow that (debt) to accumulate ever again...As soon as that (SporTT) funding is forthcoming we will try and see how the big arrears could be paid out. But we are starting now by paying for the first month for the new season.”
SOURCE: T&T Express