“We didn’t appoint you as our representative on the Board of the T&T Football Association to fight down the Home of Football, or for transparency or accountability. We sent you to represent the interests of the T&T Super League.”
This was the view expressed by clubs in the country’s second- tier football league, most of whom, have been clamouring for the removal of its president Keith Look Loy as their representative.
Yesterday Gregory Mc Sween, manager of central club Harlem Strikers said the TTSL has, for the past two years, not had a sponsor, which means clubs played for free, although being asked to put out lots of money. "We need to have a vibrant competition where promotion and demotion can take place for other clubs to join. We need to help clubs to become compliant, and we need clubs and players to look out for something in return when the season comes to an end."
Mc Sween’s Strikers was one of 11 clubs to have been omitted from the 2018 edition of the super league for its failure to pay a $45,000 registration fee and $5,000 caution fee to gain entry in the league. The Strikers boss said he had been disappointed with the FC Santa Rosa president for fighting only for the interests of himself and his club. “We ain’t getting anything by him fighting David John-Williams and for audited statements of the TTFA, because we need help in the TTSL too,” Mc Sween explained.
Harlem Strikers was one of four clubs reportedly to have distanced themselves from calls for Look Loy’s removal. Another, the Marabella Family Crisis Centre, through manager Terrance Boissiere, refuted these claims, saying he is fully in support of a petition to remove Look Loy, while Jason Gordon, chief cook and bottle washer of TTSL first-timer Erin FC, believes he was tricked into signing a petition for reasons other than what was explained to him. “I am all for football, and once I am given a fair chance to make a decision in the interest of the sport, I will do so.”
Gordon, whose team made its debut in the super league for the 2018 season, said he still believes Look Loy is the best person to represent the TTSL at that level, as he has had no negative experiences with him since joining the competition.
However, Jameson Rigues, the TTSL vice president said he had been forced to support the clubs, as he too believes that Look Loy was not representing the interests of the League. “As the TTSL vice president and the second in command, I could not sit by and watch our members fight for their rights. As a man of the truth, I will not sit by and do nothing, and therefore, I will side with the clubs, as we are still to get a sponsor for the League.”
The Super League is set to meet on Saturday from 2 pm at the Queen’s Park Oval at which discussions on the coming season and the proposal put forward by visiting UEFA/CONCACAF officials.