Have we tallied how much money the Ministry of Sport has pumped into the T&T national football team since its return from the World Cup in Germany in 2006? How much did the Government spend preparing the team for World Cup South Africa in 2010? And how much preparing the team for 2014 Brazil? I expect the total could be over $200 million. And what has been the return on this investment? Probably close to zero.
Now that we have been knocked out at the first stage of Brazil 2014, let the Government show its displeasure on behalf of the public. Terminate all these high-paid coaches and shut down any further expenditure on the national team. We need to go back to instilling better skills, desire and passion into our players. And until we see evidence of that, forget all this World Cup gibberish. We just aren't ready for that yet. We slipped through the back door to get to Germany and we need to admit that. We are not a top-class footballing nation.
Not only did Guyana beat us and qualify for the next round, but so too did Antigua and Barbuda. Do you think that the Guyanese and Antigua Governments gave their football associations the kind of money that the T&T Government gave our football federation? And did you notice how the St Kitts team played their hearts out to hold Canada to a draw? Come on, Sports Minister, face reality and stop wasting money.
Andre Peter
Santa Cruz