Jinelle James, manager of the T&T women’s team to contest the CONCACAF Women’s Championships which will be a qualifier for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, has sought to clear her name from blame attributed to her for the team’s failure to submit a proposal for funding to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
A desperate call for help for the women’s team to stage a live-in camp in the United States and properly prepare for the women’s championship, went public after players took to social media last Thursday to highlight their concerns. On Monday, however, the T&T T&T Football Association (TTFA) tried to clear the air by pointing the finger of guilt at James for not submitting documents to the sports ministry in time.
In the release, the embattled football association claimed James only submitted info for funding when the concerns were highlighted.
The TTFA release which carried no signature, also accused James of sending a letter to the sports ministry without the knowledge of general secretary Justin Latapy-George or president David John-Williams.
But James said while she knows the release will jeopardise her position as manager, she must stand for some measure of principle, as well as her own values.
The former T&T player now turn administrator, described the TTFA release as completely misleading, saying she must defend herself against any attempt to sully her reputation and discredit the hard work she has put into the team and women’s football.
“Contrary to the information stated in the release, on Monday, I sent an email to the general secretary and copied president, technical director and technical committee chair that itemizes all areas of concern for the team that included salaries for staff and players, US visas, US team camp and seeking assistance and fundraisers (Ironic isn’t it), but to date no one has responded to it,” James said.
She noted that the T&T players arrived in Jamaica for the CFU Qualifiers in batches because tickets were purchased late.
“Am I expected to watch this happen again and do nothing, not try to get assistance for the team?” asked James.
According to the T&T manager: “As it pertains to the latter part of Item two that refers to a member of the technical staff reached out to the Ministry without the consent and knowledge of the TTFA secretariat, please be informed that I had a conversation with the general secretary that spoke to seeking assistance to the Ministry of Sport.
“He informed me that it is the end of financial year and it won’t be possible to get any support due to the timelines, when all financials had to be submitted. I insisted that we cannot sit there and not try to find funding, to which he responded that I can go ahead and reach out to the Ministry to see what is possible.
“I made a call to the Ministry and explained that we needed to get the team together and hence the email was sent to get a gauge of if and how much support can be received for the team. The email in effect was not an official request but it was the basis used to give the particulars and try to ascertain whether or not funding could be received from the Ministry.”
James said while she will still praise the TTFA for its investment in the women’s programme the team is now 17 days away from its first match.
She said: “Are players and staff just supposed to step lightly and not inquire about their salaries when it is late? Are players not supposed to get frustrated and have a voice as they realise nothing is being done to help the team.”
Contacted Latapy-George directed all questions surrounding the TTFA release to John-Williams, saying he would be best able to respond to concerns. However, he made it clear he would not respond to allegations that he gave the “ok” for James to submit a request for financial help from the government.
Latapy-George said this is a matter that calls for a one-on-one discussion with James, rather than dealing with it in the public domain. He told Guardian Media Sport that James, like him, is an employee of the TTFA and such a matter must be resolved in-house.