The Ministry of Sport last evening announced its decision to resume funding to the T&T Football Association (TTFA) saying it was satisfied that the association provided the ministry with all the available accounting documents.
Through its communications department, the Ministry of Sport yesterday issued a media release, which said that the ministry will pay arrears for the salaries of technical staff and coaches of the senior men's team and cover the expenses associated with T&T's preparations for the upcoming Concacaf Gold Cup.
In the release, the ministry said it was satisfied given that the TTFA's management and professional services firm, KPMG, explained the issues which cause delays in the provision of audited financial statements from 2008-2014.
The release read: "According to the auditor, 'KPMG performed audit work for FY 2008 and 2009 and draft financial statements were prepared and submitted to management (TTFA) for both years for review and comments. A bank confirmation was received for both years, that included bank accounts that were not reflected in the accounts. TTFA's management requested information from the relevant banks, most of which has not been received to date. Consequently, TTFA's management was unable to provide the auditors with sufficient information for the completion of the audits for all years from 2008 onwards'."
The two parties met a week prior and issued a release suggesting that headway toward an agreement between the two parties was imminent.
According to yesterday's release: "When the meeting concluded, minister Brent Sancho was presented with draft audited financial statements from the TTFA for the periods 2008/09. The ministry committed to assisting the TTFA to bring the organisation's accounting records up to date and determine how state funding will be accounted for in the future. However, as the submission of audited financials for previous years must be complete before going forward, it was agreed that draft accounting statements as prepared by KPMG would be presented on the following dates: 2010/11 by 22 May; 2011/12 by 8 June; and 2013/14 by 30 June.
The release noted that TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee "gave a detailed update on the operations of the organisation and its plans. He spoke about the FA's continued efforts towards better governance and also gave a commitment to keeping the Ministry updated on matters discussed."
In addition, the Ministry has submitted a prospectus on the proposed rules and regulations of the Women's Premier League "and expects to secure the formal endorsement of the TTFA for the competition which is scheduled to commence in June 2015".
According to the release "the Ministry also resolved to support the Fifa Goal project which will see the establishment of a National Training Centre in T&T. This initiative links well with the Ministry's overall vision of making T&T the preferred destination for sport training and development."