Having had the opportunity to follow the trend of the FIFA general elections which are held every four years, the procedure has always been adopted in a manner which seemed to invite an expansive input from all of its 209 member associations which are affiliated to the organisation when it conducts the business of football the world over.
The competence in which these elections are held, are ample proof in the past 20 years, that the benchmark for the reputation which was built by the administrators who were trusted to lead, implement, and build the structure of football in our region, turned out to be embarrassing and shameful.
History would have been recorded by the excellent contributions from past presidents like Sir Stanley Rous, Dr Joao Havelange and until proven guilty or otherwise, Sepp Blatter.
Despite the fact that the details of their efficiency were not easily recognized by the world observers, simply because it was transparent enough and brought to the fields some phenomenal performances from national teams across the world.
However, sometimes, there were hints of mismanagement which were not easily understood and more so, not challenged by member associations, if only because of the financial assistance which were handed out to them.
Like so many changes in world affairs, there appeared to be countries which saw the desire to become part of the leadership, not only to improve the quality of the game, but also to be part of the financial possibilities which may come their way.
Then suddenly, a few clear mistakes among the executive committee hierarchy which controlled every aspect of management for many years, started to emerge in what was considered shady transactions, especially in the business of marketing, TV rights, subventions to national associations, all of which appeared to provide some leakage towards the pockets of some dishonest participants.
If this summary is clear enough, then the past few years will have brought a new dimension to the levels of dishonesty, which have brought the FIFA into disrepute by way of some guilty acts by persons who were elected to lead.
This is the reason why the race for the FIFA elections over the past year has been tainted with some of the ugliest forms of mismanagement, causing a number of persons to be arrested for their financial sins.
Unfortunately, the Concacaf produced its portion of the sinners and the paint brush was passed over each Confederation, leaving a stain which may take decades to be removed.
That is why the present battle for the presidency needs to be of paramount importance to the Caribbean and T&T especially, seeing that the area was targeted through the doings of two presidents of Concacaf, both from the Caribbean.
So when Gianni Infantino, UEFA's general secretary made the trip to T&T to make his pitch to gather support from the region, I was very surprised to hear that a snap decision was made to offer him support, overlooking the need for background checks which T&T did not perform and had caused the quagmire which emanated and destroyed the image of many others who some suspect may still be investigated and possibly charged with similar crimes.
It is a pity that our new president did not see the need to dig deep into his decision to support anyone just yet, until the TTFA takes the time to carefully scrutinize all the nominees.
This is not a question of any president making unilateral decisions without seeking the input of the clubs which form the national association.
Why would one meeting with a stranger have been so convincing that he could have gained the nod of T&T. UEFA has been accused of match fixing over the past few years and Infantino is the general secretary. Does that not ring a bell, which should encourage us to think before we act?
The larger countries in the other confederations are spending hours meeting first as individual countries, then as a Confederation, before deciding on the person who would correct all the wrongs of their predecessors.
Don't all these contenders need some form of consideration? Some of those persons are not known. Neither was Infantino, hence the reason why our people in the region should spend more time enquiring about the historic contributions which may be attached to their names.
Maybe we can first examine the promises of each individual very carefully, seeing the political behaviour of the contenders in the past has been nothing short on invitations to gain the right to lead, but our gullible leaders grasp at their chance to get something for themselves and their country.
Is it not surprising that one of these contenders has promised that if he wins the election, he will take away the world cup from Qatar and give it to the USA.
What a miserable and politically motivated statement for a contestant who is aspiring to lead 209 countries in the world greatest game!
Does he not respect the democratic process which must be the route to such a decision?
But why are we encouraged to support such a claim? Simply because we practice the disregard for democracy in our own football elections, believing that it is correct. It is my hope that we pay more attention to the selection of the person to rule the football world.