The Trinidad and Tobago national under-20 football team will continue its Turkey 2013 World Cup campaign tomorrow at the Waterhouse Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica after a climb-down by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) executive committee.
Trinidad and Tobago plays Puerto Rico from 4 pm (3 pm local time) in the first of three group matches.
The top two teams will advance to the CONCACAF stage from a group that also includes Haiti and Curacao. A second group includes Jamaica, Cuba, Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda.
The young “Soca Warriors” qualified for the Caribbean final round after finishing second in a preliminary group that included winners Suriname, Guyana and St Vincent and the Grenadines. However, a rift between Sport Minister Anil Roberts and the TTFF executive committee had placed the team’s participation in doubt.
Roberts has refused to recognise TTFF general secretary Richard Groden or interim president Lennox Watson and his Ministry attempted to pay bills for the national senior team by writing a cheque to TTFF employee and team manager William Wallace.
The TTFF returned the cheque to the Sport Ministry on the grounds that Wallace was not authorised to handle finances on its behalf. The government stood its ground though and, desperately short of funds, the local football body backed down.
Last week, Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed met Wallace and TTFF technical director Anton Corneal but, pointedly, no member of the present TTFF executive was included. And Wallace left with the same cheque for $47,026 that was refused about two weeks ago.
The money should cover bills in Jamaica so as to hopefully spare the teenagers from the conditions suffered by the senior “Soca Warriors” in St Kitts and Nevis last month.
Read More