PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Staff of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) who have not received salaries since February, are pleading with deposed president William Wallace to end his battle for control of the organisation’s bank accounts, which they say is standing in the way of them being paid.
In a letter written to Wallace, in which they pointed out they have not been paid for March or April, they urged the embattled football boss to look at the “human side” of their plight.
“There now exists an urgent and stressful situation that has been thrust upon the staff due to the nonpayment of salaries for a second consecutive month,” they wrote.
Wallace is battling a normalization committee set up by football’s world governing body FIFA to run the affairs of the beleaguered TTFA, for control of the association’s bank accounts at First Citizens Bank here.
The association is threatening legal action if it is not granted access to the accounts. However, the bank has refused both the TTFA and the normalization committee led by local businessman Robert Hadad, saying that only a ruling by the court or other resolution would alter its position.
In their May 2 letter, the TTFA’s employees who were last paid from borrowed monies at the end of the February, lamented being caught in the middle of that battle.
They noted that it was the beginning of a third month that administrative staff had not received salaries, and some technical staff members had not been paid for as long as six months.
“If control of the TTFA accounts is taken before the courts to be settled, staff members will have to endure extreme hardship because of the extended time we will have to go without a means to be paid. Members of staff have already begun to get calls from creditors,” the unsigned letter stated, noting that some members of staff are their households’ sole breadwinners.
The workers, who were sent home since March 15 when the TTFA closed its office because of the COVID-19 pandemic, added that full-time staff are currently employed and do not qualify for any of the government assistance programmes. Additionally, they said, members of staff have also been refused assistance through the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) because of nonpayment of statutory deductions.
“Please note that this is not an attempt for us to make any sort of political statement or take sides in the ongoing dispute between yourself and the normalization committee; however, the situation as it is now affects us greatly and directly, and we have never been granted the privilege of being solicited for an opinion,” the correspondence to Wallace stated.
“We would highlight that there are two separate dimensions to this scenario that one must take into consideration. They are the human side and the professional side.”
However, Wallace told the Trinidad Guardian his position remained unchanged.
“Our position is what it was when we took action. It hasn’t changed,” he said.
Back on April 17, TTFA lawyer Matthew Gayle wrote to First Citizens Bank warning of court action if the bank attempted “to change the signatories on the account … without the express approval of Mr William Wallace (former TTFA president) and/or the duly elected executives”.
The battle for control of the accounts comes amid the TTFA’s challenge at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland, to FIFA’s decision to appoint the normalization committee that has been mandated to create a debt repayment plan for the association, review its statutes and ensure their adherence to FIFA regulations, and oversee new elections.
