On the heels of their World Cup qualifying matches set to take place in March next year; The FIFA Council has indefinitely suspended the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) due to violations of the FIFA Statutes.
The suspension was prompted by the TTFA taking FIFA before a local court in Trinidad and Tobago, following FIFA’s attempt to appoint a normalization committee to temporarily run the federation, due to the previous board engaging “in various acts of serious mismanagement.”
“The decision of the former leadership to go to a local court to contest the appointment of the normalization committee jeopardizes not only the future of football in Trinidad and Tobago but also endangers the overall global football governance structure, which relies on the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the exclusive forum for resolving disputes of this nature,” FIFA wrote in its statement released Thursday.
FIFA announced earlier this year its decision to impose itself, stating they “found that extremely low overall financial management methods, combined with a massive debt, have resulted in the TTFA facing a very real risk of insolvency and illiquidity. Such a situation is putting at risk the organization and development of football in the country and corrective measures need to be applied urgently.”
The TTFA fought back, and the result is a full-on suspension, effective immediately.
“This suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognizing the legitimacy of the appointed normalization committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the FIFA Statutes,” the statement added.
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