Ex-Strike Squad goalkeeper Earl ‘‘Spiderman’’ Carter, now technical director of Adam’s Construction San Juan Jabloteh, is calling for Defence Force and Police to be permanently dropped from the TT Pro League.
Carter said this step is one of many that must be taken if the TT Pro League is to survive as a professional football league.
He pointed out that the concept of the TT Pro League did not have the Army/Coast Guard combination and Police as part of its design.
“This is the only country in the world that has the protective services as part of their professional football league,” Carter said.
He explained that Defence Force and Police do not comprise professional footballers and should not be allowed to play in the Pro League.
“They have no problem with respect to money and payment because they are playing for their salaries, but they are not professional footballers. It is because of their inclusion in the league that is causing the problems today.”
Jabloteh’s opening match this season against Police scheduled for Saturday last was postponed because of the current state of emergency, which has placed members of the protective services on the alert.
“They have to do their jobs first,” Carter said. Carter who stood out for the Strike Squad in 1989 in their failed attempt to reach the finals of World Cup Italia 1990, also called on Pro League officials to take the teams back to the communities.
“The same players you would say do not look as good players, would show a total difference when they are placed in a community-based team.”
In addition Carter also called for the education of coaches to be mandatory in the development of the game in TT.
According to Carter, “What we need is to have the country’s best coaches at the youth levels. “Let them coach at the primary and secondary schools so that the development programmes will be strong.
Players will come out with a command of the basic skills of the game, better than what we are seeing today.” The acrobatic goalie also appealed to pro league officials, Government and corporate Trinidad and Tobago to make every effort to keep the Pro League alive.
He outlined a number of factors which have led to teams dropping out of the league.
Chief among them was financial instability and the inability by clubs to attain gate receipts because of the current structure of the league.
“When a club is unable to receive monies from gate receipts, it spells trouble for that team.” He said the death of the Pro League would not only throw a number of players on the bread line, but would also throw football back by 40 years.
He reminded officials that when a team is removed from the community they were formed in, you also take away that support base that would help them generate finance.