In recent weeks the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) Executive Officers have been publicizing in the national media their dissatisfaction with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation’s (TTFF) implementing of the FIFA’s Mandate with regards to refereeing in its Member Associations (in our case, the TTFF). By selective quotations and generalizations the TTFRA has been promoting the idea that the TTFF is seeking through this Mandate to disband its organization.
THE FIFA’S MANDATE
One should be aware of what is the FIFA’s Mandate, which is stated simply as follows:
1. Each Member Association is obliged to establish a Referees Committee which is directly subordinate to the Member Association based on Art. 13 par 1(e) of the FIFA Statutes.
(Article 13 par 1(e) states: Member Associations have the following obligations – (e) to create a Referees Committee that is directly subordinate to the Member).
2. The Referees Committee must be an integral part of the Member Association’s structure. Refereeing organization, regulations and development must come under the exclusive control of the Member Association, and under no circumstances may it fall under the supervision or control of other bodies, such as the leagues, unions or government.
3. Each Member Association must set up a dedicated refereeing department headed by an expert with broad experience in the field of refereeing.
4. The refereeing department must be set up within the administration of the Member Association.
The FIFA’s document goes on to indicate the composition and duties of the Referees Committee, Refereeing Department and other information pertinent to organizing Referees. The above Mandate is simple and provides no leeway in terms of the obligations of the TTFF as a Member Association of the FIFA. Fortunately, the TTFF Constitution has always provided for a Referees Committee as one of the Standing Committees. Its duties mirror most of the requirements indicated in the FIFA’s Mandate and it details what is required to make refereeing meaningful to the organizing of football in our jurisdiction.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF REFEREEING IN T&T
A historical overview with regards to refereeing in T&T should put in perspective what was the scenario prior to the FIFA’s Mandate. The TTFF’s Referees Committee was comprised of representatives of the TTFF and the TTFRA, chaired by a TTFF appointed Chairman. It must be noted that the TTFRA’s Constitution required that the organization carry out functions which were similar to the responsibilities of the TTFF’s Referees Committee. Given this situation, over time the TTFRA was allowed to carry out all functions relevant to the organization of Referees in T&T with the TTFF Referees Committee addressing matters that impinged on national refereeing policies. While this situation had given TTFRA virtual control of refereeing in T&T, the FIFA Mandate has obligated TTFF to assume responsibility for refereeing matters as outlined in the duties of its Standing Committee. It appears that TTFRA is studiously in denial with regards the dictates of the FIFA Mandate.
ADDRESSING THE FIFA’s MANDATE
In addressing the claims made by the TTFRA Officials in their several public utterances, the TTFF admits that the original implementation deadline of April 01, 2010 was not adhered to but work proceeded assiduously thereafter to rectify the situation. Realizing that fortunately the FIFA’s guidelines merely required that TTFF adjust its Constitution basically with regards to the provisions of its Referees Standing Committee, a three-man committee of Executive Committee members was tasked by the TTFF Executive Committee (ExCo) with the following Terms Of Reference:
1. Make appropriate recommendations for the establishment of the required and appropriate Referees Committee.
2. Make the necessary and required recommendations for the establishment of a Refereeing Department.
3. Make recommendations for the establishment of Regional Associations’ Referees Committees.
4. Identify the necessary and required changes to the TTFF Constitution in order to satisfy the FIFA’s Mandate re: the Referees Committee and the Refereeing Department.
The Committee met and subsequently submitted a Report to the ExCo on which the TTFRA has a Representative.
It should be noted that prior to the completion and submission of the Report when there were some discussions with TTFRA Officials, around October/November 2010 the TTFRA unilaterally wrote to certain football organizers inclusive of the PFL, indicating that their members would cease officiating in their competitions. The TTFF was thereby forced to scramble to organize match officials to service these high profile matches. The TTFF also received feedback that the TTFRA Executive Committee members were advising its member Referees that they should refrain from providing their services.
TTFF/TTFRA DISCUSSIONS
Subsequent to the submission and discussion of the Report at the TTFF ExCo (on which the TTRFA is represented), the TTFRA requested a meeting to discuss concerns with regards to certain recommendations in the Report. The meeting was convened with the TTFRA Executive Officers, inclusive of a Tobago representative and members of the three-man committee representing the TTFA. The following matters were discussed:
Composition of the Referees Committee (RC)
a) The TTFRA suggested that the RC composition should remain unchanged to which the TTFF responded that the opportunity was being taken with the new structure to provide Referees in the Regions with more direct representation at the highest level.
b) The TTFRA was also asked directly if they thought that the proposed structure was capable of carrying out the FIFA’s Mandate and they responded in the affirmative.
c) It was agreed that the recommendations would be amended to include a TTFRA representative on the RC
Staffing of the Refereeing Department
a) The TTFRA proposed that their organization - being a member of the TTFF and possessing the necessary experience – be used to perform the duties of the Refereeing Department.
b) The TTFF responded that acceding to this request would be in direct contravention of the Mandate stipulations. The TTFRA should take note of the following however:
I. In staffing the Refereeing Department, the TTFF intends to utilize the knowledgeable and experienced human resources of the TTFRA, provided that they are duly registered with the TTFF.
II. The TTFRA members would also be used as Instructors, Assessors, mentors, etc.
III. The TTFF expressed the hope that the resource personnel resident in the TTFRA would see it fit to register with the TTFF.
Registration of Referees with the TTFF
a) The TTFRA requested that it be given the responsibility for collecting the registration of Referees on behalf of the TTFF.
b) The TTFF drew the TTFRA’s attention to Article 10 of the Mandate which states: Member Association Referees shall be considered to be persons registered with the Member Association as a Referee and must meet the following minimum requirements:
It was also pointed out that the proposed arrangement would be superfluous to the recommended procedure in which the TTFF Regional Associations (through the Regional Referees Committees) would receive the applications on behalf of the TTFF.
c) The TTFF further emphasized that its approach and thinking is one of inclusion and not exclusion, and expressed the hope that the Referees would register with the TTFF.
In its Report of this meeting the TTFF representatives gave further consideration to the TTFRA request and made the following recommendations re Referee Registration:
a) Referees may register directly with the TTFF through the Regional Associations’ Referees Committees.
b) Referees may register with the TTFF through the TTFRA, in which case the TTFRA must forward the applications received to the TTFF through the Regional Association in which the individual Referee wishes to function.
The Structure proposed by the TTFF
a) The TTFRA indicated that while it is in agreement with the recommended structure of the RC, it was fearful that the “wrong persons” will be used to staff the Refereeing Department.
b) The TTFF assured the TTFRA that the proposed composition of the Referees Committee provides for more direct representation with regards to Referees’ interests and the intention is to utilize the resources that are resident within the TTFRA to perform functions in the Refereeing Department.
MANDATE IMPLEMENTATION
Special TTFF Congress Convened
The Report was eventually tabled at an ExCo Meeting at which the TTFRA’s representative continued to advance arguments and make representations for a role for their organization in the implemented Mandate. The recommendations for the amendments to the TTFF Constitution were accepted by the ExCo and a Special TTFF Congress (the highest decision making organ in the TTFF) was convened subsequently to approve the required amendments.
Representations were also made at the Special Congress by the TTFF but taking into consideration that the TTFRA again indicated that they were not opposed to the proposed structure, the Congress approved the proposed amendments. It should be noted also that the TTFRA did not record a dissenting vote to the amendments at the Congress.
In pursuing the setting up of the RC, in accordance with the amended Constitution, TTFF requested that its Regional Associations initiate their Regional Referees Committees (RRC) towards submitting a representative to the TTFF RC. Some challenges were encountered since unofficially, the TTFRA was encouraging non-cooperation with the TTFF by their members while pursuing discussions with the TTFF.
Several meetings were held between representatives of the TTFRA and the TTFF. The primary focus of the TTFRA were:
1. Outstanding monies owing to the TTFRA by the TTFF
2. Terms and conditions for Referees services in 2011 and beyond
3. The structure and functioning of the RC and the Refereeing Department
Item 1. above
It was pointed out that this was outside the remit of the TTFF representatives and the matter should be discussed with the TTFF General Secretary.
Re Item 2.
The TTFF Representatives suggested that since the RC would be representative of Referees throughout the nation and this was also an opportunity to review, revamp and overhaul refereeing in T&T, it was a matter they should discuss and make recommendations to the TTFF ExCo towards establishing the necessary policies.
Re Item 3.
The TTFRA continued to be persistent that TTFF should consider having their Executive personnel carry out the role and functions of the RC towards getting the RC functioning ASAP. It was again reiterated to them that this would contravene both the FIFA’s Mandate and now, the TTFF Constitution.
The TTFRA has indicated that theirs was a collaborative approach towards getting the Mandate implemented as soon as possible, to which the TTFF representatives responded by being inflexible, uncompromising and adopting an adversarial approach. Apparently, their perception of the TTFF’s “adversarial approach” stemmed from the fact that the TTFF representatives declined to compromise with regards to the dictates of the FIFA”s Mandate and the TTFF Constitution.
The TTFRA has regrettably misconstrued the TTFF’s adherence to its obligations as its intention to “… get rid of the TTFRA”. This is despite the fact that the TTFRA has representation on the RC and every effort is being made by the TTFF to engage the TTFRA’s cooperation in sourcing personnel to fill the various roles in the new structure.
Organization of the Referees Committee
Despite the TTFRA’s strategic campaign to encourage and have its members generally withhold their cooperation with the TTFF, especially in terms of registering with the TTFF as Members, the Regional Associations were able to organize RRCs and indicate their representatives on the RC, some of whom were members of the TTFRA Executive Committee. Among the early challenges of the RC was organizing the registration of Referees as members to the TTFF. As is required by the Mandate’s Article 10 and the TTFF Constitution, invitation letters, inclusive of a Registration Form were sent out to active Referees to register with the TTFF.
Various strategies including misinformation to its members have been used by the Executive of the TTFRA to stymie this process. The Registration Form to be used in this process became an issue. Under the guise of being collaborative, the TTFRA began promoting the idea that registration with the TTFF could be done through the TTFRA, using the TTFRA Registration Form which would then be forwarded to the TTFF. This apparently innocuous suggestion to achieve a short term objective was not only superfluous in view of the approved structure, but more importantly, it would be ineffective in terms of the Referee’s registration (simply, you cannot legally register with an organization using the Registration Form of another organization, despite its similarity).
The TTFF ExCo’s rejection of this recommendation submitted through the RC has had some negative feedback, inclusive of the following:
1. Some of the RC members (who are TTFRA Executive Members) appear to be unaware that the RC is a Standing Committee of the TTFF which is required to make recommendations to the ExCo, whose deliberations would determine what would be TTFF policy. The ExCo’s decision has been interpreted as being contemptuous of the RC’s “decisions” and certain individuals have withdrawn from serving on the RC, thereby temporarily holding up the RC from proceeding with its responsibilities.
2. The TTFRA has been misconstruing the decision and indicating to its members that the TTFF has no respect for referees’ decisions and is only interested in their registering with the TTFF for nefarious reasons, thereby arousing suspicions and fermenting mistrust among its members.
3. The number of experienced Referees who have registered with the TTFF is insufficient to provide refereeing services to the major football competitions In T&T for this season.
MOVING FORWARD
The TTFF is committed to carrying out its obligations to football as an affiliate of the FIFA whose Mandate has significantly altered the erstwhile role and function of the TTFRA. Instead of co-operating and collaborating with the TTFF towards implementing the FIFA’s Mandate and reengineering and crafting a new role for its future, the TTFRA has apparently chosen to engage in a “turf war” in which subterfuge, misinformation and blackmail has been employed. The TTFF is however focused on its responsibilities, especially with regards to ensuring that the major football competitions are not inconvenienced unduly for the 2011-2012 season.
Towards this objective the TTFF is endeavouring to achieve the following in the short term:
1. Apprise Referees of the facts which would allow them to make an informed decision with regards to their future in the sport.
2. Being unsure of the availability of all the experienced Referees, the TTFF would actively pursue recruitment, training and development of new Referees and as far as possible judiciously mix them with experienced Match Officials to service the major football competitions.
3. Work assiduously to ensure that as required by the FIFA’s Mandate and the TTFF Constitution, the Referees Committee and Refereeing Department are established and functioning effectively to benefit refereeing and the sport of football.