(Trinidad Guardian) T&T’s participation at the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers next year will rest heavily on the shoulders of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) being led by its elected president William Wallace, who FIFA removed from office on March 17.
Following the suspension by FIFA on September 24 for violation of the FIFA Statutes, the TTFA realistically can still enable T&T to participate at the qualifiers which begin in March if the TTFA abide by the conditions of the suspension, which means bringing the TTFA Statutes in line with that of the FIFA and dropping all court-related battles with the FIFA before December 18.
Following the suspension, Wallace responded by instructing his Attorneys to challenge the suspension of the FIFA through the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland and filing an Injunctive Relief at the CAS which would ensure that the country is allowed to participate at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However, the Concacaf had made a concession for T&T participation in the Gold Cub which took place four days after the ban but with the condition that the country honours FIFA requests by the deadline of December 18.
However, Wallace, who was infuriated by the suspension, also ordered his attorneys to resume the court battle with the FIFA over the legitimacy of the appointment of a normalisation committee to replace them (TTFA) as the managers of football in T&T. His decision was also contrary to the vote taken by the general membership in an unofficial meeting on September 22.
