FIFA Vice President Jack Warner along with Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation General Secretary Richard Groden and National team administrator George Joseph received a warm welcome from Bahrain football officials on Tuesday and have been invited to attend that country’s friendly international with Panama on Thursday night.
Warner, Groden and Joseph were met on the tarmac following their flight and were escorted straight to the Airport’s VIP area in a Mercedes Benz and then to the Sheraton Bahrain Hotel and Towers in the capital Manama.
They were all met by Bahrain FA President, his Excellency Sheik Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, who is also the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Asian Football Confederation and Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. He also worked with Warner in the United Arab Emirates in 2003 and in Holland in 2005.
”So far things have gone according to plan here and we just ensuring that the necessary arrangements are in place for the second leg between the two countries. At the same time, the TTFF’s representatives are also putting things in place for the Trinidad and Tobago team,” Warner told TTFF Media on Tuesday. Of course the same reception is not guaranteed for the T&T footballers when they arrive their next month for the away leg.
It was also announced that the away match on November 16 will kick off at 7:30 pm (12:30pm T&T time).
Meantime, National Team assistant coach Wim Rijsbergen was expected to visit Villa Park on Tuesday to witness Jlloyd Samuel in action in Aston Villa’s Carling Cup fixture with Burnley. Samuel played the entire 90 minutes in Villa’s 1-0 win.
And Scottish-based goalkeeper Kelvin Jack has reported himself as fit again and will be ready for the matches against Bahrain.
“I have gone through all the necessary treatment following the injury I picked up against Mexico and things are looking very good at the moment. I have not played since and I’m not certain whether I will be in the (Dundee) starting team this weekend but having played 26 games since June for the club and for country, this break has done me a world of good and I’ll definitely be ready again for Bahrain,” Jack told TTFF Media on Tuesday.