TTOC president Brian Lewis has called into question the willingness and commitment of the Ministry of Sports and the Sports Company of T&T (SporTT) to validate legitimate efforts by the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) and its corporate partners to promote the growth and sustainability of track and field in T&T.

Speaking at Wednesday’s launch of the NAAAs Championship Month held at the Radisson Hotel on Wrightson Road in Port-of-Spain, Lewis underscored the power of track and field to continue making positive differences in T&T and wondered why the ministry and SporTT officials were usually absent when listed on the programme to speak. “Given the importance of track and field to sport in T&T, I always find it a bit disquieting that on a number of occasions when I come to speak at this all important launch, I always end up speaking last when on the programme, I see SporTT and the Ministry of Sports is supposed to speak after the president of the TTOC. But that invariably doesn’t happen. And I think it would be remiss of me not to make the observation, in a very constructive way. Given the importance of track and field and the national senior championships and the events that track and field and the NAAA and their sponsors and partners would put on during the month of June, I think that it would have been most apt to have a representative here from SporTT and the Ministry of Sport,” Lewis said.

He added, “I know that we are all exceedingly busy, but if we are involved in sport, we must give the respect and the acknowledgement that is due, not only to NAAA, not only to the athletes of track and field, but also and most importantly to the sponsors and partners who have given a commitment to support sport through track and field. I think it is important that we all work together in sport, to develop sport and to put a positive image on sport and we need to encourage the sponsors. This is a very important event and it needs the support of key stakeholders such as the TTOC, the Ministry and SporTT.” State owned National Gas Company (NGC), its subsidiary Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited, insurer Sagicor and Blue Waters have partnered with the NAAA for the NGC/NAAA Junior Championships (June 6-7); NGC/NAAA Juvenile Championships (13-14); NGC/NAAA Combined Events Championships (20-21) NGC/ Sagicor Open Championships (26-28). The Hasely Crawford Stadium in Woodbrook is the venue for all the events listed.

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First Citizens ‘Sportsman of the Year’, George Bovell will resume his build-up to next month’s Pan American Games in Canada and the FINA World Aquatic Championship in Kazan a month later, when he competes at the Tropheo Citta in Rome Italy, over the next two days.

The three-time reigning Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games 50 metres freestyle champion and multiple Pan American Games medallists, Bovell will compete in both the men’s 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events.

Speaking ahead of the meet, Bovell said his main aim in the 50m freestyle, his pet, event will be to lower his time down to 22.2, an improvement on his 22.46 clocking at the Belgian Open Swimming Championship last month which was only good enough for fifth spot.

After skipping the 100m freestyle in Belgian, the Italian-based T&T Olympic bronze medal winner says he will return to swimming the event as he wants to work on his easy speed and stamina for the last few metres of the 50m event.

Last month at the Belgian Open Swimming Championship, Bovell picked up two silver medals at the Olympic Swimming Pool, Wezenberg, Antwerp.

The 31-year-old Bovell got his first silver of the meet when he set a national record in the 50m breaststroke in 27.65 to trail Greek swimmer Loannis Karpouzlis (27.61) with Belgium’s Jonas Coreelman took third in 28.75.

The top T&T swimmer returned to the pool a day later and picked up silver in the 50m backstroke in 25.70 seconds behind his AND clubmate, Francois Heersbrandt who won in 25.50 seconds while Greec’ Michail Kondizas took bronze in 25.81.

Following the meet he is expected to head to Y40 pool Padova where he has been invited for his first free diving meeting.

At that event, Bovell says he intends to swim down to 40m and back up while holding his breath, and with no fins.

He added, “This will be something that will no doubt help me push the limits of my swimming racing as well”.

He will also compete at the Sette Colli also in Rome (June 12-14) followed by Trofeo Rossini (June 19-21), Treviso Swim Cup (June 26-27) and French Open Championship in Vichy (July 4-5).

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...as he aims to continue TTFA strategic reform

Radical changes to the management of local football are underway says Raymond Tim Kee, president of the T&T Football Association (TTFA).

Even as his term of office comes to an end in June after four years in office, he has offered himself for re-election to the post, Tim Kee was talking tough on the issue of strategic reform.

He said gone were the days when practitioners were installed in key positions because they simply knew the sport. The TTFA head did not say if this was among the suite of constitutional reforms a special committee of the TTFA was presently reviewing.

In order for football in T&T to become a major revenue earner and as a consequence ensure the TTFA achieved self-sufficiency, he said, business professionals needed to be enlisted by the football body.

This said the TTFA head, was one sure way to win the confidence of the private sector about the tremendous returns to be had from this type of investment.

Speaking at the TTFA 2014 Awards held at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Woodbrook, Tim Kee said, “The TTFA is undergoing change management exercises which seems go against the thread of what has become habit or natural, as you would say, because our focus is a new one and a different one. Our focus is on good governance with emphasis on transparency and accountability. And as time progresses, we are going to see emerging some new faces, some different faces, many of whom may not have ever played football; probably never bounced a ball.”

He added, “I came out of the business sector and I recognised by looking and observing that football is a product. But the people who market and sell products are the business people, not practitioners in the craft that produce the product. So Mr Hart (Stephen) and his team and other members of the technical staff, it is their business to produce the product on the field and they are accountable to those who sit, not in their ivory towers, but those fairly comfortable rooms–air conditioned rooms–who at times would complain of heat because of challenges. So, we expect a different product. We expect a different behaviour. We expect different norms. Football as anything else depends on economics.”

Turning his attention to the development of the sport, Tim Kee cited the level of capital that went local governing bodies for the sport in Concacaf.

While the Mexican Football Association had an annual budget of US$100 million, he said, the United States Football Association got an allocation of US$75 million.

“You know what our own is? Five million and we struggle to make it. And yet, we go out and produce a quality of that product that is comparable to some of those other countries who are better endowed financially and who enjoy the financial support from so many different corporate citizens,” he said.

Tim Kee added, “So when people say that ‘God is a Trini’, I am inclined to believe that sometimes, because against all odds, we still prevail and not only prevail, prevail with distinction. Our commitment is that qualifying for World Cup would not be a flash-in-the-pan anymore. We intend to pursue qualification for World cup from 2018 onwards.”

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Officials of leading sporting organisation in T&T firmly believe yesterday’s arrest of top FIFA officials on allegation of fraud, racketeering and money laundering by the United States department of Justice has thrown the spotlight on the need for good governance codes and practices in the world of sport.

Brian Lewis, president of the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC), Ephraim Serrette, president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) and Robert Farrier, president of the T&T Cycling Federation expressed similar views during separate T&T Guardian interviews.

Citing the presumption of innocence and due process, Lewis said, the allegation would have to be addressed in the appropriate forum and believed it was crucial for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to both take responsibility and show leadership as the world governing body for football could not operate as if it was business as usual.

FIFA, as one of the leading sport bodies, said Lewis, would have to take very decisive and proactive action to address the issue and work to rebuild its credibility and positive reputation, citing at the end of the day, it was more than just the FIFA executive–it was about the sport.

“It highlights the importance of sport in the Caribbean, notwithstanding around the world, adhering and adopting to the universal principles of good governance as it relates to transparency, accountability and ethical conduct and behaviour in the discharge of our duties as sport administrators and sport leaders, with regard to the sports which we are charged with the responsibilities to be stewards of. We represent the bigger picture of sports, most particularly the athletes and the youth. I think that we have to be exceedingly mindful in the context of how we administrate sport,” said Lewis.

“None of us are perfect! None of us are saints or angels. We have our weaknesses, shortcomings and we make mistakes, but in the context of how we administrate sports and lead sports, we must strive to have zero tolerance for corruption, bribery and all the different manifestations. Even though the allegations are still to be proven, it is a dark day for FIFA in the context of the spectacle of senior high ranking officials being arrested by a body and an entity such as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and the Swiss authorities. It can’t do well for the positive image and reputation of FIFA.

Farrier, the TTCF head, said, “It sends a message that governance in sport is very important and we need to do things like constitution reform. We need to follow all the procedures that we put in place. Sport is big business and there must be proper governance.”

Serrette, meanwhile, said, when he decided to get involved in the administration of sport, it was always to be done in a transparent manner.

“After taking over the presidency of the NAAA, it was the first time that we were able to deliver audited statements and we always informed our stakeholders about what was happening. It is about the work we are doing that we don’t get paid for, but we are enjoying the fruits of the hard work that we do when the athletes do well,” Serrette said.

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The case against Jack Warner

The US district court alleges massive corruption by Warner within its prosecution of 14 people, including serving and former high-ranking Fifa officials and sports marketing company executives alleged to have paid bribes.

As president from 1990 of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and a Fifa executive committee (exco) member, Warner from the early 1990s “began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain”, the indictment alleges. His demand for and receipt of bribes, the authorities allege, was a key part of a 24-year racketeering and bribery conspiracy, dating from 1991 to 2015, which led to “endemic corruption” of Fifa itself.

Most extraordinary in a 164-page indictment is an alleged $10m payment transferred by Fifa to Caribbean Football Union (CFU) accounts that Warner controlled, in return for Warner, Chuck Blazer and an unnamed third Fifa exco “conspirator” voting for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. The indictment alleges the South African government initially offered to make this payment to the CFU, with a stated purpose to “support the African diaspora”.
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From this $10m, Warner is alleged to have agreed to pay $1m to Blazer – who, according to the US Department of Justice, has pleaded guilty to this and a series of other financial frauds and crimes.

Ultimately, the South African government is said to have been unable to pay the $10m, so in early 2008, four years after the offer was made, the money is alleged to have been paid by Fifa. Three payments are itemised: for $616,000, then $1.6m, then the balance, $7.784m, wired from a Fifa account in Switzerland to CFU and Concacaf Bank of America accounts controlled by Warner.

The indictment alleges: “Soon after receiving these wire transfers, the defendant Jack Warner caused a substantial portion of the funds to be diverted for his personal use,” which included laundering the money through intermediaries.

Warner is accused of agreeing to pay Blazer’s $1m share in instalments “as he had already spent it”. In the event, he paid Blazer $750,000, in three instalments between 2008 and 2011, allegations to which Blazer is said to have pleaded guilty.

The indictment also charges Warner over the infamous payments of $40,000 packs of cash to Caribbean delegates in 2011 by Mohamed bin Hammam, who was challenging Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency. Warner, discovering that one official had called Blazer at Concacaf to tell him about the payments, is alleged to have become angry and said: “There are some people here who think they are more pious than thou. If you’re pious, open a church, friends. Our business is our business.”

Warner, whose sons Daryll and Daryan have pleaded guilty to separate charges, has insisted he is innocent and has not been questioned in relation to the indictment.
The case against Jeffrey Webb

Webb, based in the Cayman Islands, became Concacaf president, a Fifa vice-president and exco member in May 2012, after Warner resigned following the scandal over the $40,000 payments.

Webb has been seen as a clean-up figure and potential successor to Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency but the US indictment accuses him of brazen corruption, being paid bribes that went into building a swimming pool at his house. The bribes are alleged to have been paid by the sports marketing company Traffic USA, in return for being awarded TV and marketing rights for the Caribbean countries’ qualifying matches in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Webb is said to have wanted a $3m bribe in return for ensuring the CFU did that deal with Traffic. The indictment alleges Aaron Davidson, the president of Traffic Sports USA, another of the 14 men charged, knew about the bribe.

The $3m payment is alleged to have been arranged with another of the defendants, Costas Takkas, a UK citizen and the general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association, who is described as a close associate of Webb. Takkas is said to have been paid by instalments into various accounts, including in the Cayman Islands, intended it is alleged, “to conceal the fact the defendant Jeffrey Webb was the beneficiary of the payment”.

Takkas is accused of wiring some of the money to an account of his in Miami. Then, the indictment alleges: “Takkas subsequently transferred the funds to an account in the name of a swimming pool builder at United Community Bank in Blairsville, Georgia [USA], for the benefit of the defendant Jeffrey Webb, who was having a pool built at his residence.”

Webb is understood to have been arrested by Swiss authorities in Zurich for extradition to the US, where authorities have stressed defendants are innocent until proven guilty in court.
The case against Chuck Blazer

Blazer, the Concacaf general secretary for 21 years between 1990 and 2011, is said to have pleaded guilty in 2013 to 10 counts including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion from 2005-2010, and failure to file reports of his foreign bank accounts. The Department of Justice said he faces a maximum 20 years’ incarceration in a US prison for the conspiracies, 10 for the failure to declare his foreign bank accounts, and five years for the tax evasion charges.

Blazer was accused of soliciting a bribe for Warner as long ago as 1992, from the bid committee seeking to have Morocco selected as the host for the 1998 World Cup. Warner is said to have accepted the offer of a bribe in return for voting for Morocco, and Blazer chased it up for him. The payment was ultimately made, the indictment says, but in fact Fifa’s exco voted for France to host the 1998 tournament.

Blazer is said to have also pleaded guilty to receiving $750,000 from Jack Warner, part of Blazer’s agreed $1m share of the $10m paid to Warner’s accounts by Fifa itself, after Warner agreed to vote for South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup.

The charge of failing to declare a foreign bank account relates to money Blazer held during 2010 at First Caribbean International Bank, in the Bahamas. He has already forfeited $1.9m when he pleaded guilty, and is due to pay more to the authorities when he is sentenced.
The case against Traffic and its owner, José Hawilla

José Hawilla, who founded and owned the sports marketing company Traffic, based in São Paulo, is said to have pleaded guilty to paying bribes relating to the sponsorship of the Brazil national team by “a major US sportswear company”. The deal, under which the Brazil Football Federation (CBF) would be paid $160m over 10 years, is said to have been agreed in 1996. That was the year that Traffic brokered the famous sponsorship by Nike of the CBF but Nike is not actually named in the papers.

The indictment alleges Hawilla was paid a percentage of the $160m, which bought the sportswear company exclusive rights to make Brazil shirts, clothing and other equipment. Hawilla is said to have pleaded guilty to paying a high-ranking, unnamed CBF official half his commission, totalling “in the millions”, by way of bribe and kickback for sealing the deal.

Nike itself issued a statement in response to the revelations, saying: “Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport, and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and will continue to cooperate, with the authorities.”

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In just 100 days, up to 1000 young Commonwealth athletes aged 14-18, including four (4) from Team Trinidad and Tobago will compete for 107 Gold Medals in 9 sports over 5 days at the Vth Commonwealth Youth Games, to be held on the Pacific island nation of Samoa from 5-11 September 2015.

 

The Commonwealth Youth Games are for some – like Kirani James (Athletics), Chad le Clos (Aquatics) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Athletics) - the springboard to future Commonwealth Games glory; for many, a formative first taste of international multi-sport competition; and for all, a joyous celebration of high-performance sport, personal development and new Commonwealth friendships made on the level playing field of sport.

 

The action takes place in the nation’s capital, Apia, across two sporting complexes that will play host to Aquatics (Swimming), Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Lawn Bowls, Rugby Sevens, Squash, Tennis and Weightlifting.

 

Young athletes selected to make the journey to Samoa to represent Team Trinidad and Tobago will include young athletes from aquatics and athletics.

 

Like the Commonwealth Games, all athletes stay in athletes’ village-style accommodation and events comply with International Federation technical rules and regulations, giving many competitors their first taste of an international multi-sport environment. World anti-doping standards also apply. Off the field of play, the Youth Games nurtures the next generation of global sporting citizens by focusing on friendship, integrity and cross-Commonwealth inter-cultural exchange – learning and living the Commonwealth Games Federation’s values of Humanity, Equality, Destiny.

 

Jeannette Small, Team Trinidad and Tobago Chef de Mission, said:

 

“My role as Chef de Mission, with the support of the National Olympic Committee, will be to organize the teams travel to Samoa. Upon arrival I will work alongside the team managers and the Organising Committee to ensure the athletes have an enjoyable stay and are able to perform at their best representing the red, white and black proudly. I look forward to the learning opportunity of being part of such a glandular event, and the exposure to Samoa's culture and natural beauty.”

 

 

The host nation, Samoa, which means Sacred (Sa’) Centre (Moa) of the Universe, is a small, tropical island nation in the Central Pacific with a young population of c187,000, over half of whom are 25 and under.

 

Chairman of the Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games Organising Committee, and Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi said:

 

“Practically our entire small island community from sports associations and athletes, to the public and private sector, to our citizens and communities have all banded together to prepare to welcome and host Commonwealth athletes, officials, dignitaries, supporters and visitors in 100 days time.

 

Samoa is a Small Island Developing State in the Central Pacific and sport and recreation is a hugely important part of our island life and culture. With this close affinity to and appreciation of sports and its rewards and benefits, our island nation and community stands ready and eager to extend to all athletes and visitors a very warm welcome and to ensure that the Samoa 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games will not just be the most memorable but a lasting legacy for all”.

 

Launched in 2000 and now in its 5th edition, the Youth Games are a sustainable opportunity for smaller cities and nations to benefit from hosting a major sporting event, using predominantly pre-existing venues (in Samoa’s case constructed for the 2007 Pacific Games) whilst also promoting an inclusive and positive youth agenda.

 

With 50% of Commonwealth citizens aged 25 and under, the Youth Games play a vital part in the Commonwealth Games Federation’s vision to inspire Commonwealth athletes to drive the ambition and power of all Commonwealth citizens through sport.

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  2. TTOC boss says Chanders treated poorly
  3. Nine FIFA Officials and Five Corporate Executives Indicted for Racketeering Conspiracy and Corruption
  4. TT strike double badminton bronze
  5. US can appeal IOC stripping of medals
  6. TTOC gets update on medal reallocation
  7. Hockey getting international support
  8. T&T players suffer in Tacarigua
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