APPROXIMATELY 10 boxing coaches and officials turned up outside the Ministry of Sport office yesterday in Port-of-Spain in a show of support for Sports Minister Anil Roberts.
Armed with placards, they group blasted boxing promoter Tansley Thompson and former Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board (TTBB) member Ricardo Phillip for calling on Roberts, Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed and TTBB Special Advisor Boxu Potts to resign.
In what was effectively a counter to Thursday’s protest, the group showed up at 11am shouting to passers-by that they were in favour of the Minister.
Reynold Cox, vice-president, Amateur Boxing Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ABATT) was present and expressed his dissatisfaction with Thursday’s protest which he says will harm more than help the sport.
“Nothing has came out good out of the rift between people who are against the Boxing Board or the Amateur Association. No amateur or professional boxer has profited out of it and it is time it should end. People who are trying to keep it going are against boxing,” he said.
Cox says he is not satisfied with where the sport is heading at the moment as there is fighting outside the ring more than in it.
“What is happening right now, people know everyone who is fighting...but they don’t know who are the amateur boxers we have. They don’t know what happened this year in amateur or professional boxing.
If you ask anybody they wouldn’t know and that is terrible for a sport where the administrators are more famous than the athletes themselves,” he argued.
Cox says there is no need for Minister Roberts or Creed to resign as they have aided the sport tremendously. “It’s ridiculous and not practical for them to ask the Minister to resign. We come to the Ministry of Sport to get support and we get support so now to ask them to resign is ridiculous. It means they don’t care about the athletes because it is they (athletes) who will suffer,” he argued.
Gordon Hoyte, a member of ABATT, called on Thursday’s protestors to discontinue their actions and asked them to “do things differently”.
“We are asking those making the noise to please do things differently. I make my whole life sacrificing for boxing. I created (Kirt) Sinnette, (Kertson) Manswell, the (Kevin) Placides (and) all the boxers. This sport could do a lot to bring crime down and this is the avenue the Minister of Sport wants to go,” he said. Hoyte revealed that there are currently programmes in several rural and depressed areas and boxers are now earning degrees and excelling. He believes the protestors could hurt their efforts as sponsors could be dissuaded from getting involved. He noted that there are no grounds to ask Minister Roberts or Creed to resign as the allegations are without substance.
“In Trinidad and Tobago you have to have facts. Mr Creed is an honourable man. I, am a coach and administrator for the last 30 years, I can’t say anything bad about him. If there are things that bother us we will deal with it in a different forum,” he explained.
By Stephon Nicholas
Source: www.newsday.co.tt