The T&T Football Association (TTFA) is once again mired in controversy and facing potential legal action following its recent decision to award Harlem Strikers the sixth and final spot to contest the quarterfinals of the T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL), Tier 2’s “Big 6” competition that is expected to continue today.
Following written protest from the Strikers surrounding the eligibility of Derron John to represent Guaya United in an earlier match against Bethel, the TTFA has admitted that him playing was an error and penalised Guaya, a move that now allows the Strikers to advance and will now see them square off against Police FC at a time and location yet to be decided.
The decision to grant Harlem Strikers the sixth position in the League comes on the heels of last week’s letter of protest which appealed a 4-2 Guaya win over Bethel, with John being flagged as an ineligible player. In their protest, the Strikers stated that he should not have been allowed to play in that game as his move from San Juan Jabloteh to Guaya was not legal, as it was done outside the transfer window of July 17-27.
But the TTFA decision is not going down well or being accepted by Guaya United owner and manager, Randy Hagley, who yesterday stated he was prepared to take legal action against the football association if Harlem is allowed to play in the “Big 6” ahead of his team.
The outspoken Hagley said Guaya is standing firm that they have done nothing wrong and followed the TTFA regulations regarding the movement of players and that the transfer was legitimate and accepted by the TTFA.
He further charged that the football association was yet to give a response directly to his club stating exactly what they did wrong, based on the rules and system they were made to follow.
According to Hagley, the football association’s constitution itself would prevent Harlem Strikers from being the club which could protest his club’s use of John.
He said, “Not only was Bethel the only club to protest their use of John at the time, but the protest was also done outside of the window. A window of 48 hours or two days is given for clubs to protest, but Harlem’s protest came more than three days after the match.”
Both teams had finished the round-robin inseparable with identical points and goal difference, but Guaya’s coach, Travis Mulraine, asked the TTFA to enforce the FIFA rule of using results of any head-to-head match-up as the determining factor when this occurs. This means the 4-2 scoreline which went in their favour, seeing his team advancing to take the final spot.
But the legal action can be avoided as Hagley offered an olive branch to the TTFA and suggested another path to resolving the impasse, by joining Derek Edwards, the Petit Valley Diego Martin United manager, in proposing that the TTFA can arrange a one-off match between Guaya and Harlem Strikers to decide which team gets the final playoff spot.
Edwards, in lobbying for the one-off game, drew an analogy saying, “If you are the gatekeeper for an organisation and you allow someone who should not be in to come in, then you cannot blame anyone if something goes wrong. It is the TTFA that is keeping back the process because they refuse to accept the blame of letting John play as he did in this case.
“It is ironic that the TTFA refused to accept RSSR into the League at the beginning for not having a document from the Ministry of Legal Affairs, something that was totally out of their hands. Yet, the TTFA denied them. The irony is that the same TTFA wants clubs to accept their error and move on when they didn’t do so for RSSR.”
The latest suggestions and threats of legal action may be somewhat of a shock to the TTFA who may have considered the matter closed since last week when Amiel Mohammed, general secretary of the embattled body, sent out a letter which clearly stated: “The TTFA and T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL) confirm that Guaya United’s correspondence dated 17 September 2023 and subsequent email notes have been received regarding the matter of the status of player Derron John.
“Pursuant to our correspondence dated 20 September 2023, the TTFA Special Disciplinary Committee (SDC) has issued a decision on the matter and it is now considered closed in accordance with the Regulations and Participation Agreement of the TTPFL, the FIFA Disciplinary Code, other relevant FIFA, TTFA, and TTPFL guidelines or documentation and the provisions for appeal as prescribed in the regulations and relevant documents. We also acknowledge your communication with respect to the other matters raised which are internal to the TTFA.”
All eyes will now be on the TTFA and the clubs involved in the Big 6 to see what happens next.
SOURCE: T&T Guardian
16 