Minister of Sport Roger Boynes yesterday responded to calls by the Soca Warriors national football team for his government to deliver on promised World Cup qualification rewards. He said that government would deliver as promised.
"I want to give the national community and the Soca Warriors the assurance that the government's commitment to honour them will in fact take place."
In a radio interview yesterday, Boynes added that, "the Prime Minister will be speaking with Mr (Dwight) Yorke very shortly and all commitments will be honoured and in fact, they will be discussing the manner in which the team is to be honoured."
The minister's assurances came after T&T striker Stern John voiced his concern on Tuesday over the Patrick Manning administration's silence on the matter since the prime minister's November 17 announcement that the Soca Warriors were to be rewarded for qualifying for the World Cup in Germany this June.
John was quoted by Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Media (TTFF media) as saying: "You told us to deliver before the Bahrain game...we delivered, the Federation and Mr (Jack) Warner delivered. .Now it's your turn as the Government to give something for our achievement."
Yesterday, in further responding to John's call, Boynes added: "Consultation is best. We need to find out exactly what they want. The Prime Minister will be talking to the team captain (Yorke) and he will get a sense as to what the players are looking at and we will keep our promise to the team, to the nation. Stern and the boys have absolutely nothing to worry about."
In related news, TTFF special advisor Jack Warner yesterday confirmed at a media conference at which it was announced that the FIFA World Cup would be displayed in T&T on February 17 at the Centre of Excellence, that the local Federation had received the ticket allocation they had requested.
"We have not been given the exact figures," Warner said. "But all we have asked for we have gotten."
The TTFF had requested the eight percent of the tickets for the Warriors' matches to which they were entitled. That is expected to be in the region of 10,000 tickets.