Final Chapter of TTFA v FIFA



Every rope has an end. Every drama has a conclusion. Everything has an expiry date. After (practically) a year, the TTFA-FIFA impasse is finally over.

On November 19th, 2020, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s ban was lifted by FIFA as T&T’s football body met FIFA’s requirements for re-instatement when the general membership formally accepted the authority of FIFA’s normalization committee and closed all legal cases initiated by, now, former president William Wallace against the global body.

Poetically, one of T&T greatest wins aligned with one of their most painful heartbreaks – the infamous World Cup qualifying loss to the USA at home on November 19th, 1989.

The decision was made by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, led by president Gianni Infantino, and hastily communicated to the FIFA-appointed normalization committee chairman, Robert Hadad. FIFA General Secretary, Fatma Samoura stated, “TTFA’s representative and club teams are again entitled to take part in international competitions. This also means that the TTFA may benefit from development programmes, courses and training provided by FIFA and/or CONCACAF. Moreover, FIFA member associations may again enter into sporting contact with the TTFA and/or its teams”.

It is worthy to note that T&T’s clubs haven’t competed in any CONCACAF competitions for two years due to the failure of the David John-Williams-led administration to successfully implement a licensing programme.

The TTFA will now officially be run by FIFA’s normalization committee until March 27th, 2022.
Their duties remain to:
- run the TTFA’s daily affairs
- establish a debt repayment plan that is implementable by the TTFA administration
- review and amend the TTFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) and ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements before duly submitting them for approval to the TTFA Congress
- organise and conduct elections of a new TTFA executive committee for a four-year mandate.

With the off-field disputes settled, newly-appointed Head Coach, Terry Fenwick, can finally get his team together and focus on football on the pitch. Fenwick in such position is a topic of discussion though, as he was appointed by former president William Wallace and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan, with terms not agreed to by the former board.

The Warriors are set to begin their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign in March 2021. They are drawn in Group F alongside St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Puerto Rico and Bahamas. Should they top the group, they will face a play-off against the winner of Group A, which consists of El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Montserrat and the US Virgin Islands. The winner will then advance to the final CONCACAF stage, otherwise known as The Hex.

Fenwick’s team are also in preparation for two potential matches next July for a spot at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. They must defeat Montserrat in the first preliminary round and then the winner from Cuba vs French Guiana. Should the Warriors get through both games, they will advance to Group A of the Gold Cup alongside Mexico, El Salvador and Curaçao.

The path to success is now clear again for Trinidad and Tobago’s football, both internationally and locally. The country’s footballers, coaches, referees and administrators can dream big again. There is hope that lessons are learned from past mistakes. With hard work, consistency and togetherness, the nation can aspire and achieve.


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