WALTER ALIBEY
It is now a race to the finish for the post of president of the T&T Football Association. After months of intense campaigning by candidates, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which includes the Election of Executive Officers will begin at 2:00 pm this afternoon at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
The incumbent Raymond Tim Kee will be challenged for the right to manage the affairs of football in T&T by his friend and colleague in football David John-Williams, who is president of T&T Pro League club W Connection, ex-World Cup referee Ramesh Ramdhan, Selby Browne, the Veteran Football Federation president and Clynt Taylor, the first vice president of the T&T Football Referees Association.
A total of 49 votes will be cast during the preceeding, and football pundits are predicting that the winner will have to get at least 25 of the votes, but the mathematics can be different today depending on how many delegates turn up.
It is expected that John Williams will benefit tremendously from the T&T Pro League which has a total 10 votes, being a pro league campaigner through his club W Connection. Apart from the TT pro league however, the votes will come from; EFA 3, SFA 3, TFA 3, CFA 3, NFA 3, Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) 3, Referee Association 2, Super League 8, Schools League 1, Veteran Football Federation (VFF) 1, Women's League 2, Primary Schools 1, Coaches 1, American Youth Soccer Organisation (AYSO) 1, Beach Soccer 2 and Futsal 2.
During their campaign the candidates all shared their plans for football to the public and the football electorate. John Williams and his team of Ewing Davis (first vice president), Joanne Salazar (second vice president) and Allan Warner (third vice president) have promised a better image for the sport as well as opportunities for youth development and a livelihood from the sport.
However, Tim Kee, who asking for an opportunity to finish a job that he started back in 2012 has said he will ensure proper accountability, fairness, transparency and a welcome return of corporate T&T to the business of football.
The incumbent has also allocated a parcel of land at Union Marabella which he expects to use for the construction of a home for football and will implement an independent auditing committee to ensure transparency. However, Browne wants to see a return of the Glory Days of the sport and feel that T&T should also be returned to the number one spot in the Concacaf region.
He said achieving this can only be done only if he and his team are given the opportunity to refocus and introduce development initiatives from the primary school all the way to the senior level. Meanwhile Ramdhan is promising a complete overhaul of the sport and ensure that T&T no longer struggle to qualify for World Cups and other major tournaments but they are among the top teams in the tournament.
Joined by businessman John Sabga and a multi talented marketing personnel Curtis Rudd, they plan to implement proper marketing plan that will assist in securing funds and woo corporate TT to get back into the game. There will also be major development plans for referees and all involve Ramdhan said.
Meanwhile Taylor says that while he will develop the game in it entirety, he will focus on the image of the sport who has gone worldwide.