JOE PUBLIC Football Club footballers are back in the T&T Pro League.
And yesterday the club’s owner Jack Warner said he will do all necessary to win the competition even if it means recruiting overseas players, but only in the short term.
The announcement came during a launch of the T&T Pro League at the Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain.
League chairman Larry Romany also revealed yesterday that the popular Sportworld National Superleague will now be run by the T&T Pro League.
Warner, a FIFA vice-president currently at the centre of a World Cup ticket controversy said the sport has been boosted by the country’s qualification to the World Cup in Germany in June-July this year.
But he pointed out it was critical for a strong football league to be established locally if Trinidad and Tobago are to maintain a high level standard of football and continue to qualify for future World Cup tournaments.
Warner said he marveled at the handing out of two town-houses to national players Cyd Gray and Aurtis Whitley saying that such a luxury was not possible a year ago and stressed that the time has come to pool efforts towards a programme where football can be sustained and developed.
He said the fact that eight players from leading club CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh have played on the national team tells a lot about the role the pro-league is playing in the sport.
Warner said all must forget the past and focus on what lies ahead adding that the 2006 World Cup is coming quickly and 18 months from now qualification for the 2010 Finals in South Africa will star.
Romany said his association made a request to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to take over the superleague in order to form a link between the two competitions. He said when this proposal was granted, the league took a decision to implement a system of promotion and demotion for 2007.
He said the top two teams from the Superleague will go into the Pro League which will kick off April 8.
T&T Pro League Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dexter Skeene described the league as a house of opportunities for many young and upcoming footballers. He said the Pro League was also committed to being the best football competition in the region.