Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation

National football association

Founded = 1908
FIFA affiliation = 1963
Region = CONCACAF
Region affiliation = 1962
President = Oliver Camps
Coach = Wim Rijsbergen ("Men's")
Jamaal Shabazz ("Women's")The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) is the governing body of football in Trinidad and Tobago. It organizes the football league, Professional Football League, and the Trinidad and Tobago national football team. It is based in Port of Spain.

The national team played in its first ever World Cup in Germany 2006 against England, Paraguay and Sweden.

Players' bonus dispute

Following the 2006 World Cup, the national team was thrown into turmoil by a dispute between the players in the World Cup squad and the TTFF. Prior to the competition the players had agreed a bonus scheme with the TTFF where they would share 50% of the TTFF's income from the World Cup. Following the competition, the TTFF declared an income of TT$18.25 million and expenses of TT$17.97 million, leaving TT$282,952 in net revenue and offering each player TT$5600 (less than US$1000). The players rejected this, following which the TTFF "revised" their figure to TT$950,000 which, the TTFF claimed, took money from the qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup. The players also rejected this offer, and requested to see the TTFF's unaudited accounts, which the TTFF declined. The 16 players involved, Marvin Andrews, Christopher Birchall, Atiba Charles, Ian Cox, Cornell Glen, Cyd Gray, Shaka Hislop, Kelvin Jack, Avery John, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Collin Samuel, Brent Sancho, Aurtis Whitley, Evans Wise, and Anthony Wolfe, claimed to have been blacklisted as none had been selected to play for the national team since a friendly match against Austria in November 2006, although the TTFF claimed that this was coach Wim Rijsbergen's decision. [cite web |url=http://www.ttgapers.com/Article1688.html |title=Football:Warriors annoyed as TTFF blacklist in effect |accessdate=2007-09-30 |author=Lisanna Liburd |date=7 April 2007 |work=Trinidad Express |publisher=ttgapers.com]

On 30 June 2007 the players initiated a lawsuit against the TTFF [cite web |url=http://www.ttgapers.com/Article1778.html |title=Football:Jacklisted Soca Warriors officially serve TTFF |accessdate=2007-09-30 |date=30 June 2007 |work=Trinidad Express |publisher=ttgapers.com] . Following an August 2007 enquiry by their lawyers to the Trinidad and Tobago government under the Freedom of Information Act, it was revealed that the TTFF had understated its income by at least TT$173.5 million, not including a TT$32 million bonus paid by the government or television revenue from pre-World Cup friendly matches in Europe, thus depriving the players of at least TT$6.5 million (US$1 million+) each. [cite web |url=http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161203191 |title=T&TFF got more than $173m |accessdate=2007-09-30 |author=Lisanna Liburd |date=15 September 2007 |work=Trinidad & Tobago Express |publisher=T&T Express] Following this revelation, the TTFF immediately lifted its ban on the players, and agreed to go to arbitration in London rather than to court. A decision is expected in around February 2008. [cite web |url=http://ussoccerplayers.typepad.com/ian_plenderleith/2007/09/tts-world-cup-p.html |title=T&T's World Cup Players Back In The Fold |accessdate=2007-09-30 |author=Ian Plenderleith |date=25 September 2007 |work=U.S. Soccer Players]

References

External links

* [http://www.tnt.fifa.com Official site of Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation]
* [http://www.socawarriorstt.com// Official Site of the Soca Warriors]
* [http://www.socawarriors.net/ Soca Warriors Online]