Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith confirmed this evening that youth team sport can commence immediately, despite a statement from chief medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram, who said all children activities should wait until September.
Griffith said that, after a few calls, he can now clarify that Parasram was referring to activities like children’s camps and not organised sport for young men and women.
“Just to clarify, I liaised with the minister of national security because there seemed to be some confusion and youth team managers were contacting me for clarification,” Griffith told Wired868. “And as stated by the prime minister and confirmed by the minister of national security, all team sport is allowed from 22 June and that includes youth team sport.
“What the CMO was referring to was situations like summer camps but for things like the Youth Pro League, permission was already given [to run the competition]. You also have players who are under-18 and training with national senior teams and obviously you are not going to ban them.
“One lingering issue might be with spectators like parents and so on who would want to congregate for games; and that is something we want to rectify. But youth teams can start training and playing games with immediate effect.”
It means that Trinidad and Tobago’s youth football teams can finally emerge from hibernation due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Youth Pro League is scheduled to start on 12 July with 12 teams involved. The participating clubs are: AC Port of Spain, QPCC, Morvant Caledonia United, W Connection, Central FC, San Juan Jabloteh, Cunupia FC, Point Fortin Civic, Club Sando, Police FC, Defence Force and Terminix La Horquetta Rangers.
The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) will kick off in September.