Guaya United FC are not accepting the press release issued by the Normalisation Committee (NC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) as a genuine apology.
Responding to the correspondence issued on Monday by TTFA general secretary Amiel Mohammed, was Jamerson Rigues, manager of Guaya United and also president of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League, the majority of whose clubs comprise the TTFA’s Tier 2 competition.
Rigues is not of the view that Mohammed’s correspondence represents a genuine apology.
The issue centred around the registration of footballer Derron John. The TTFA upheld a protest by Harlem Strikers and docked Guaya three points, citing that John’s registration with Guaya United was illegal, because it did not come within the transfer window. Subsequently, Harlem Strikers replaced Guaya as qualifiers for the Tier 2 Big 6 competition. The club disagreed, and the TTFA subsequently revealed that John’s registration may have been legitimate.
At the TTFA’s AGM earlier this month, the general membership agreed that Guaya United FC was wronged. Further, Guaya United president Randy Hagley articulated that since the club did not want to disrupt the final stages of the competition, the only recourse that Guaya United wished for, was a public apology.
Rigues stated that what the TTFA had forwarded as an apology, via a press release, is inadequate. “Mr. GS, your press release diverted, deviated, and deflected away from a genuine and acceptable apology statement. Your release to the media seeks to further sully the good name and character of the member, Guaya United FC, it is not a genuine apology,” stated Rigues.
“There is an old saying ‘it takes a big man to apologise.’ So, if you are man enough, kindly provide to the mainstream media a proper apology statement.”
In a media realease, TTFA general secretary Mohammed mainly outlined the process by which Guaya lost its spot as the sixth qualifier for the Tier 2 playoffs, but seemed to apologise mainly for its own deficiency, rather than to the club.
“The General Secretary of the TTFA, on behalf of the TTFA, apologises to Guaya for the breakdown of internal controls at the TTFA relative to this matter and any problems and embarrassment caused to the Club because of this unfortunate error,” the TTFA general secretary stated via press release.
“We, the TTFA, acknowledge that we erred in ratifying the transfer because Guaya requested the transfer after the closure of the domestic ‘transfer/registration window’ in contravention of the provisions of Article 10.3 of the TT Premier Football League Regulations, 2023.”
But Guaya United does not see this as a sincere apology according to subsequent correspondence from Rigues.
“The release, communicated to the media, by your office, does not render any justice to the Guaya United Football Club and its stakeholders. Instead, the release points to Guaya United as the villain, when, in fact, Guaya United is the victim of a very poor administrative error by the TTFA and the TTPFL. Guaya United was robbed of their place in the final.
“May I remind you that the reconvened TTFA AGM of October 7 reviewed the matter, and found that Guaya United was unjustly treated by the league’s administration, and publicly humiliated in the mainstream media. The meaning of the word ‘Apology’ from the Oxford Dictionary states ‘a regretful acknowledgement of an offence or failure’,”
SOURCE: T&T Express
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