As expected, the saga of the fired T&T Football Association (TTFA) executive continues with them trying to raise funds to battle the almighty FIFA in court. I think all objective T&T football fans who have been fortunate enough to follow the largely popular (or lack thereof) former administration and agree that what FIFA did was unjust, but just how do you defeat FIFA? I have written enough about this, so best of luck to them!
With most sports around the world shutting down because of Covid-19, Belarus, a European country with a population of 9.5 million, started a new football season last month just as the cases around the globe rose. There have been 163 cases with 2 deaths. Someone over there may be going mental. I happened to look at some of the football highlights on television and players who scored goals were being hugged and mobbed by their teammates and then the Belarus President comes out and says, “It's better to die standing than to live on your knees”.
Minister Deyalsingh, on the other hand, has me here cooped up like a chicken. The fact is I’m not living in Belarus, but will the T&T government’s measures work? Only time will tell but in response to Belarus’ leader’s wild statement, I prefer to live on my knees until further notice.
The big news is the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics which under the circumstances, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had absolutely no alternative. It appeared that with the games carded to commence on July 24 this year, they must have felt that if they delayed their decision long enough, the games might have been able to go ahead.
To me, the most sensible move was undertaken with the games in 2021 to take place in the same time slot scheduled for this year’s games. The Paralympics were also rescheduled by exactly one year.
There has been a lot of discussion about not having the Olympic Games at the proposed time and switching the event to the spring. But any other time would have certainly come into contact with other sports worldwide. By reverting to a similar time frame, it should not affect other international sports when taking into consideration that many of them have been postponed and may very well appear on the calendar during the course of early next year. I understand the Olympic dates would conflict with the timing of the World Championship in track and field and swimming but luckily these events can be rescheduled.
I expect the cost of rescheduling the games will be enormous and I suppose that's why they waited until now, as well as the particular venues had given up hosting other events but what do they do now? Would they want the venues to do the same which would mean a significant loss of revenue? Does the IOC compensate the authorities? Do they now have to incur a further rental of one year on these same facilities? Whatever the outcome, it is going to cost the IOC billions with these expenses to maintain stadiums, rentals, etc and most of these said expenses will be borne unfortunately by Japanese taxpayers. A huge blow indeed.
But what about the athletes themselves? This postponement will help some but will also be a disadvantage to others. Four years is a long time to prepare and wait for the opportunity to put yourself in line to win a medal at the toughest games on the planet. Even with the uncertainty of the games, athletes would have still been training intensely knowing that July was on the horizon. Some athletes, even in isolation, would have been changing gears with the prospect of reaching peak fitness and mental readiness for the games. They now have to do it all over again at least for a year. Their entire regime has to be planned again. What do they do for the next couple of months?
No one has a clue when international sport will return so how do these athletes train and motivate themselves for the next meeting? A regional meeting is different from a European or world meeting so it is going to be tough on some of our athletes who were eagerly looking forward to July 24.
On the other hand, you have athletes who were nursing injuries or suspensions and July 24, 2020 would have come too soon for them. Suddenly, they now have a new lease on their careers and realise they have a second chance and can now compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Those who were injured must now be seriously starting to step up their rehabilitation to be considered for selection next year especially if they are an elite athlete and have achieved the qualifying times; it is then only a matter of getting fit. An athlete who was suspended must be over the moon with the announcement as I would expect their fitness levels would not have been at 100 per cent as with no Olympics, they would have been taking things lightly. But their plans will suddenly change and they will now be looking to address their national associations with stellar performances when the world gets back to normalcy and they are able to perform.
With another year to the Olympics, it is going to be interesting to listen to the plans of our various national sporting associations and how they treat the athletes as they all restart their engines for Tokyo 2020 on July 23, 2021. As usual, all we can ask our athletes is when they don the red, white and black, they give their best. Good luck in the coming months ahead as you all peak towards your goals of Olympic gold. Another year is a gift of sorts to some to be better prepared, but a sore and bitter pill to swallow for some who have been rising to their peak level and thoroughly eager to participate this year.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and do not reflect the views of any individual or organisation of which he is a stakeholder.