Concacaf President Victor Montagliani said the base has been set for the revitalisation of football in T&T under new president Kieron Edwards and his executive team.
Montagliani, in only his second visit to local shores since his presence at the opening of the "Home of Football" in Balmain, Couva on November 18, 2019, under then T&T Football Association (TTF) president David John-Williams who is now deceased, is marvelling at the work done by the current administration in its short time at the helm of local football.
At the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport on Sunday, the Concacaf boss told the media, "Concacaf has lived for the last eight years, since I have been president, on a philosophy of football first. There is always a lot of noise in football, and obviously, you have to deal with some of that, but football first is making every decision in the best interest of football."
He noted further: "What I am happy to see is that Kieron has done that, in his short order as president and has led the organisation. They've put their step forward in all facets of the game. Competitions is the obvious one, but club licensing, coaching education with a convention, and I think the base has been set for the revitalisation of T&T to get back to what I know all of you think is your rightful place to be ultimately in the World Cup, and also to be one of the key players in Concacaf on the field.
"I think it's what every single fan in this country wants. I know Kieron wants it, and I think it would be good for Concacaf when those aspirations are there, and those aspirations are met. So, I am very pleased to not only visit, but to come and give the unconditional support to Kieron and his team and help in any way we can to push football forward for the TTFA."
Through Concacaf and the sport's world governing body, FIFA's ongoing partnership with Edwards and the football association, the country has become a case study for the Safeguarding initiative, where a new level of care during the coaching of players under the age of 18 years has been introduced.
Under Edwards and his administration, there has also been the introduction of key programmes to ensure compliance with Concacaf and FIFA, beef up coaches' education and push for a proper professional football league.
Montagliani, who was expected to attend a T&T Premier Football League's Tier 1 match on Sunday, will also pay a visit to the "Home of Football" this morning before he wings out for a Concacaf Congress in Paraguay with Edwards, told the media that it was great to see the local football league back, the nationl team progressing, although it faces some big matches coming up, the qualification to the Concacaf Gold Cup, and the work that has been done in such a short order by Kieron and his team.
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts attended the courtesy call on Montagliani yesterday but had to leave due to other commitments when Montagliani's flight was delayed by more than an hour.
Edwards, the TTFA president, said the visit by the Concacaf president was significant.
"Today marks an important day for T&T football as we have the president of the Concacaf, Victor Montagliani, here with us, and it's important in terms of the progression of what we've been doing over the last year as the new executive of the TTFA to have visits like this. These courtesy calls are to show what we've been doing and to more so, show where we want to go. It is also to show the relationship we have with our parent body in terms of Concacaf in the region, it's important," Edwards said.
Afterwards, the two exchanged gifts, with Edwards presenting the Concacaf boss with a Soca Warriors replica jersey, and Montagliani handing Edwards a scroll.