OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday yesterday presented a $100,000 cheque to Oliver Camps, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, to assist the Soca Warriors in their preparation for World Cup 2006 in Germany.
In a simple ceremony at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain, Panday said football has been "a great unifying force in this divided society" and was "one of the things that brings us together".
Panday said he was hopeful that the Soca Warriors "will be even more successful and so we shall be greater unity to our society and out country."
Panday said the cheque he presented on behalf of the UNC was made possible "by the generosity of certain donors who are friends of football and of the UNC."
In accepting the cheque, Camps said the money "will go a very long way to assisting the national team to continue its efforts at the World Cup level. It will also open the eyes of other people in the society who should come forward and assist the national team."
Camps said the team needs a lot of assistance because it is a "very costly exercise."
Camps said he was about to leave the country to determine in what group Trinidad and Tobago will be playing. He maintained however that the efforts would indeed be very costly and thanked the UNC for their "very kind effort."
He said he was also pleased that the team's success has brought the country together and expressed hope that this unity would only develop further in the future.