The following is the entire text of a Press Release issued by Athletes1 , British solicitors retained by Trinidad and Tobago World Cup players.
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As has been widely reported in the Trinidad & Tobago press and internationally, the Trinidad & Tobago football squad that represented the country in the FIFA World Cup Finals in Germany last summer is in dispute with the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation over the payments due to the players.
The dispute concerns payments owing to the players under an agreement between the players and the Federation regarding appearance fees for the team’s participation in the World Cup and shares of commercial revenues due to the players from the Federation.
The players are surprised, hurt and disappointed by the approach of the Federation over this issue and their initial reaction was that they no longer wanted to represent a Federation that appeared not to be complying with its commitments to the players.
The public statements of the Federation sent out in the form of official press releases has also disappointed the players. The Federation has seen it fit to brand the players ‘delinquent’ in circumstances were all they want is for the contract they have to be honoured. The first step is for the Federation to produce independent audited accounts relating to their revenues and the players do not think that such a request could properly be characterised as ‘delinquent’.
The players, acting through a committee of six senior players, and with the full authority of the whole squad, has now consulted with lawyers and is confident that there is a suitable arbitration process under the FIFA statutes to resolve the issues, if indeed the squad and Federation cannot reach agreement between themselves.
The players are happy to leave the financial dispute in the hands of their lawyers and if needs be the independent FIFA arbitration Panel. The squad therefore is happy to confirm their availability for selection for international games, including the forthcoming match against Austria. The players consider it an honour and privilege to play for their country and want to represent the fans in the best way; by playing great football and winning matches. All the players who represented Trinidad & Tobago in the 2006 World Cup Finals confirm their availability for selection for the forthcoming international and this has been communicated directly to the Federation.
The players hope that the Federation will co-operate with the legal process which is about to begin and particularly that the Federation will be forthcoming with full and accurate financial information concerning the monies due and owing to the players.
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Stay tuned to this space for further information as this story develops. Denzil Streete, Warrior Nation Vice President and Editor of the Warrior Nation magazine is currently utilizing all of our sources to prepare a story on the latest developments. We have already spoken to the attorney in this matter and our interview with him will soon be released, as soon as interviews with players are completed.