Team TTO | Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee | teamtto.org

Trinidad and Tobago’s Sankar Taekwondo School earned two gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the 2013 Canada Open, which ended two Sundays ago, at Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, in Toronto, Canada.

Sankar Taekwondo School’s two gold medals were won by Chelsea Mofford in the 41-44kg category of the Cadet Girls sparing medium weight competition, and Olatunde Celestin who was first in the 78kg Junior Men sparring heavyweight competition.

Mofford beat Chyenne Leedham-Daigle of the Dragon Taekwondo Academy (Canada), Angelina Luong of the Kevin Jia Ming Cheng school (Canada) and Maya Wei of HPAC BBW1 (Canada) to cop her gold medal.

Jesus John was the team’s silver medallist, in the 51-55kg Junior Men Sparing lightweight competition, coming in behind Said Akhrarov of Master Myungs Taekwondo Academy (Canada).

Megan Joseph was tied for third in the 54kg Youth/Cadet Girls Sparring heavyweight event, with Anneka Kindrachuk of the Alborz Taekwondo Academy (Canada).

Meanwhile, Stefan Biput and Temitayo Celestin, both of Sankar Taekwondo School, were disqualified in their respective events for excessive force to the head.

T&T also struck gold in the Open category, Lenn Hypolite of West Side Taekwondo (New York) taking first place in the Senior Men Black Belt 80kg division.

Honour Roll

Senior Men Black Belt--80kg
1. Lenn Hypolite (West Side Taekwondo (New York))—T&T
2. Juan Sanchez (Puerto Rico Taekwondo Federation)--Puerto Rico
3. Rene Lizarraga Valenzuela (Mexico National Team)--Mexico
3. Augustin Bata (BSV Friedrichshafen)--Germany

Cadet Girls Sparring (Medium)
1. Chelsea Mofford (Sankar Taekwondo School)--T&T
2. Chyenne Leedham-Daigle (Dragon Taekwondo Academy)--Canada
3. Angelina Luong (Kevin Jia Ming Cheng)--Canada
3. Maya Wei (HPAC BBW1)--Canada
Junior Men Sparring (Heavy)
1. Olatunde Celestin (Sankar Taekwondo School)--T&T

Junior Men Sparring (Light)
1. Said Akhrarov (Master Myungs Taekwondo Academy North York)--Canada
2. Jesus John (Sankar Taekwondo School)--T&T
3 Mert Gorur (Nile Academy)--Canada

Youth/Cadet Girls Sparring (Heavy)
1. Nicole Ryk (Gajok TaeKwonDo)--Canada
2. Valérie Vaugeois (Taekwondo St-Jérôme)--Canada
3. Anneka Kindrachuk (Alborz Taekwondo Academy)--Canada
3. Megan Joseph (Sankar Taekwondo School)--T&T

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The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) will be hosting the 13^th edition of its annual Olympic Youth Camp (OYC) between 8th to 13th (Tobago) and 22^nd to  27^th July 2013 (Trinidad). In keeping with its motto the camp will provide participants with opportunities to be “Educated, Empowered and Evolved” through exposure to a variety of educational, sporting and cultural activities.

Facilitators will be selected from the TTOC’s stakeholders in the sporting community, as well as athletes and individuals who have proven themselves competent in their area of expertise and are able to communicate their experiences to the campers.

National Sporting Organizations are invited to select two athletes (one male, one female) between the ages of thirteen (13) and sixteen (16)  to be part of this experience.

Contact: Ms. Jeannette Small at Olympic House Phone # 625–1285 or email: contact@ttoc.org by Monday 3^rd June, 2013.

You know your rugby sevens - a summer muckabout at school, a once-a-season bit of fun for the club, a day on the sauce at Twickenham or in Hong Kong watching the big boys dash and splash.

Some of that still stands true. A lot of it doesn't.

Sevens at international level has been becoming more serious and less circus ever since the World Series was launched at the turn of the century. But it was still, in the words of England coach Ben Ryan, a "bolt-on" - a sideshow starring young wannabes and older probably-won'ts, a slice of fun in the sun without the profile or kudos of the 15-a-side game.

What changed? The Olympics. In October 2009, the IOC accepted sevens into its programme for Rio 2016. And so was set in progress a series of events that have transformed the sport, both in how it is played and how we all might feel about it.

"The England programme was on the edge of being binned," admits Ryan. "I couldn't get any players, because the EPS (Elite Player Squad) agreement meant no club in the country had to give us a player for international sevens.

"So you were working your way down. We capped 39 players that year, and we were really struggling - meeting players at the airport, limited training, players earning less than the minimum wage.

"Fast-forward a couple of years, and we have full-time players, earning a decent salary, with a career path that wasn't there 24 months ago."

Those players are fitter, faster and better prepared than ever before. The World Series requires them to peak for nine tournaments in five continents across 10 months, clocking up 80,000 air miles over 32 flights to play in 84 games.

On the training ground, they must deliver - the backs able to sprint 40 metres on grass from a standing start in less than 4.9 seconds, the forwards the same in 5.05 secs. Off the pitch, they are backed up by performance analysts, nutritionists and sports scientists producing cutting-edge ideas beyond what many in the 15-a-side game are attempting.

Such is the power of the five famous rings. When Olympic medals are up for grabs, particularly in sports with limited geographical reach, funding flows. Attitudes change; teams advance.

"It used to be that you would have two easy games in your (World Series) pool and then one game to see who won and who came runner-up," says Ryan.

"Now every game is tough. Everyone is doing what we do. Opposition teams have got analysts and doctors and conditioners. They're full-time, with second teams and development pathways.

"Spain are currently bottom of the rankings, but they're very good operators. A lot could be full time in England. Portugal and Russia could beat any of us.

"A couple of seasons ago, you'd look at your opposition's kick-off, and they'd have one set play. That's all you had to deal with. Now it's five, from three kickers. All nations are close to the same fitness and speed and power levels."

The consequences have been even more far-reaching in the women's game. England head coach Gary Street in effect sacrificed his side's Six Nations campaign to focus on winning June's sevens World Cup; with sevens an easier game to promote at amateur level, and the Olympic allure seeing rugby minnows like the Netherlands set up professional women's sevens squads, the shorter format may even take over from 15s as the dominant form.

Hurdles remain despite such giant strides forward. While 100,000 tickets have already been sold for this weekend's concluding London leg of the World Series, an equally significant number is the 1.2 million pints expected to be sunk.

While the sport has never been more serious for players and coaches, the majority of the spectators have yet to catch up. Quality on the pitch can still feel less important than quaffing in the stands.

"There are people who will be there who would struggle to tell you who had reached the final, because alcohol levels have risen or the fancy dress has fallen over their face," admits Ryan. "You don't want it to turn into just a beerfest for 48 hours, because the sport can stand up on its own."

His skipper Rob Vickerman, who has witnessed first-hand sevens' evolution from part-time to professional, agrees. "In some of the stadiums we play at, it could be table-tennis on the pitch, as long as they're having a good time."

Both men are sanguine rather than exasperated. Cricket Tests are seldom cheapened by the inebriation of those watching. Beach volleyball retains its Olympic credentials while actively encouraging the party atmosphere all around. Sevens attracts an atmosphere. But it is not darts.

"The severity of the tournaments and the quality of the teams has shot up, and the crowd appreciate that," says Vickerman. "They also want to watch something that anyone can win, which now sevens has become. Spain or Portugal, the traditional minnows, can turn up and beat South Africa or Samoa."

What about the players' peers? Is sevens still viewed as something for the cast-offs and kids, even as alumni like Alex Cuthbert and Christian Wade run rings round packed defences?

"There's probably a bit of, 'Is he playing sevens because he's not playing Premiership?'" says Vickerman, who played for both Leeds and Newcastle in the top flight. "But I think it's a far harder test of your skills as a rugby player being on a sevens pitch than it is in the Premiership.

"Everyone is deemed a specialist sevens player, even when they're not. You get a lot of sevens players who could easily translate to 15s and be pretty lethal at it. But you don't have 15s players who could transfer their skills easily into sevens, purely because it's much harder fitness-wise, and your core skills are put under much greater test.

"There's a respect they have for us as athletes. They know full well that their worst training week is usually in the middle of pre-season, while ours is like that for the whole year."

All this effort could yet count for little. While the home unions will meet later this month, there is no firm plan yet for how a prospective Great Britain team might be selected or coached, no automatic qualification as its football equivalent enjoyed in London.

The top four nations in the 2014 World Series will all go, but the British teams compete individually. Do England try to snatch GB a place? Their form this year has been patchy; Wales and Scotland have never won a World Series tournament.

Should a GB team - an Olympic version of the Lions, at best - make it to Rio, neither would a medal be any sort of certainty.

"There have been five different winners of the eight tournaments so far this season," says Ryan. "Come Olympics, once you get 12 teams into that, God only knows who will win, because the top four seeds all got knocked out of the last World Cup before the quarter-finals in one surreal hour and a half. That could easily happen at the Olympics, because matches are 14 minutes long and there's a lot of moving parts."

And what of the big names and fast feet of the Test teams, the dashing wingers and flying flankers of household fame? Might they be tempted by the lure of an Olympic gold to switch late to sevens?

"They've already asked," says Ryan. "There are a number of current internationals, who would be 28 or 29 in Rio, going right, I'll run my club contract through to the end of the 2015 World Cup, and then if I'm in good shape, I'll keep my options open.

"I'm open to all of it. But they would need to dedicate a certain proportion of their season. I know how hard our lads work; three years down the track, is a Dan Norton, with 100 caps, going to be pushed out by someone who comes in six months out? I doubt it.

"You want the best team you can assemble. What you don't want is chuck in someone with no experience of international sevens. It's a tough sport, and it's getting tougher."

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The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) has a new secretary.

Sheldon Phillips, son of former national goalkeeper and technical advisor Lincoln Phillips, yesterday took over from former secretary Richard Groden, who vacated office last week after serving since 1998.

TTFF president Raymond Tim Kee expressed satisfaction with the selection of Phillips, which was also passed by the executive committee at a meeting on Wednesday.

Phillips is reported to have strong football understanding and had a successful spell in sports management in the United States and other parts of the globe. His role with the TTFF will include managing key external relationships, particularly with other local and international bodies as well as various stakeholders and partners.

Tim Kee said the federation was impressed by the work Phillips did. “We are confident that his appointment will provide strong leadership and stability...

“I thought also with his legal background and the leverage he enjoys in getting things done on a global stage would be a major asset. You must begin with the end in mind and my end is getting T&T back to being among the top nations in Concacaf and to a highly respectable position in world football. With those goals and objectives in mind, I believe Sheldon is the ideal person to work along with me and the rest of the federation in going about achieving all of this.”

Phillips said he was ready to do everything in his power to help lead the federation back to stability. “Our organisation will be zealous in our activism and advocacy of all things football-related because we are keenly aware of the power of the game and how it shapes lives both on and off the field of play. I am humbled at the opportunity.”

Phillips was instrumental in the settlement discussions with the 2006 World Cup players as well as the setting up of international matches against Peru, Belize, Romania and Estonia.

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Soca Warriors to finally get paid by TTFF

From my days at university, I learned that an athlete carries him/herself uniquely and in a way that is relative to the culture and environment of his/her sport whether footballer, volleyballer, golfer, runner etc.

When an athlete comes in for their initial evaluation with me for their injury, I not only get to know the details of their injury but I slip in opportunities to better understand the personality and temperament of the individual with whom I hope to be working. Understanding these elements helps to frame an approach in dispensing their plan for recovery thus affording me a better chance at a smooth, complete recovery.

The first thing I take note of is whether the individual is part of a team sport or an individual sport. An individual’s character is what lends him/her to be more of an individual player or a team player. Of course, this is not a “catch all” interpretation to understanding the individual as there are selfish and/or cocky team sport athletes as there are team-oriented individual sport athletes.

However, it is one way to build a very basic profile on what can be expected while working with the individual through their time of injury, a time when most people tend to be quite fragile. The key is to keep them active in some way while they may need to stay away from their sport of choice temporarily.

Regardless of their academic background, an athlete’s obsession with their sport will usually put that athlete in a position to teach a therapist operating in a clinical setting more about their sport while they work together. The athletic trainer/therapist who works specifically with a sport has a greater likelihood of developing a more in-depth understanding of the intricate nature of a particular sport, beyond just the rehabilitative and training aspect of it.

As I have said in columns before, in coping with an injury an athlete goes through many mental stages of recovery, just as the body goes through different physical phases of healing. Between the therapist and athlete, there must be a sense of trust and faith in each other. The client must have some measure of confidence in the therapist’s ability to lead him/her to full recovery while the therapist is assured of the client’s commitment to recovery.

Although some cases may be more complicated than others, effective communication and a solid sports medicine team approach helps to maintain a sense of control. This reassurance helps maintain that confidence while allowing the athlete to stay focused on his/her recovery.

The mental fortitude of recovering from injury is not to be underestimated, regardless of age or status. Whether an individual is aiming for professional glory or just trying to stay healthy, the limitations brought about by injury can be a point of mental conflict for a competitive or health conscious person alike.

While the stakes for a professional athlete will be weighed differently for a health enthusiast, for each person the burden exists and it has moved many a person to tears during their rehab session when they see themselves being challenged to do what may appear to be a fundamental and quite simple rehabilitative exercise.

Celebrating milestones in their recovery is something to be recognised and celebrated even if only with words of praise. To be honest, sometimes a therapist too feels a sense of pride and accomplishment thinking that he/she may have played a small part in the journey towards getting to that point. For both parties it is symbolic of having gotten another step or two closer to returning to full activity or maybe just resuming training again.

The unique advantage that exists most times when working with members of the active population is that they are very well aware of their bodies. They know when something does not feel right from mild tightness in a particular area to recognising when “pain” has become “discomfort.” This, however, is age relative. With the younger adolescent athlete (14 years and below) a bit more time is needed to get the relevant feedback that will sometimes come not just through words but actions, assessing them during their rehab session.

Athletes/enthusiasts who spend a significant amount of time being supervised by their therapist directly, feel like they are constantly progressing. Communication comes in many forms during a session and it is only if the therapist is around to observe them all that they are able to address the deficiencies, concerns or questions of what should be their first priority, their client.

Asha De Freitas-Moseley is a certified athletic trainer with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association of the USA. She has over ten years of experience working with athletes and other members of the active population, rehabilitating and returning them from injury to full play. She can be reached at #17 Henry Pierre Street, St James. Tel: 221-4237.

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COULD an estimated $800 million investment in a Sporting Village at Couva to house high performance sporting venues, and upgraded stadiums across the country for elite athletes be the catalyst for sport tourism?

Sports Minister Anil Roberts, the brain behind the Sports Village told Business Day recently Friday that once the projects – a $195- national aquatic centre, a $200million-cycling velodrome/ BMX Olympic park with indoor wooden track and training track, and a $200-million tennis centre with a centre court capacity of 2,000, all have the potential to attract world class athletes for exhibition matches and tournaments.

These facilities will give international credence to the existing Ato Boldon Stadium for track and field and football, and the Balmain Cricket Centre in Couva. Initially it was proposed that the aquatic centre, which it is proposed will be named in honour of Olympian George Bovell III, was earmarked for construction near to the Hasely Crawford Stadium and the cycling velodrome was due to be built at Mount Hope.

The plan for the development of the Sporting Village was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Finance as part of the country’s diversification programme. “For the first time in the history of Trinidad and Tobago, sport has been moved off the recreational part of the budget to Government’s investment programme. It is being treated as an industry and it now forms one of the pillars to diversify the economy away from oil and gas,” Roberts said.

Treating sports as an industry, he said will boost sport tourism, create sustainable job opportunities in the construction sector initially, and add to the country’s revenue. Apart from job creation on the periphery to serve the sporting community, the new facilities will themselves require sport science skills and will create jobs in sport medicine, physiology, sport psychology, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and coaching among other areas.

While international athletes will have their own coaches, Roberts said where there are huge gaps to get required skills initially, Roberts said, “We are making government to government arrangements, for example, with Cuba in coaching and sport science.” Other arrangements are underway with Kenya for long distance running and China for a number of other areas.

Investing in a centralised area, Roberts said will encourage private sector investment in the hospitality sector including hotels and restaurants, as well as in banking, shopping and medical facilities. “The land in the area will become quite valuable, as the impetus for investment moving forward will be the activities generated domestically and internationally through sport tourism,” Roberts said. The facilities being built by Shanghai Construction Company with funding from China Export and Import Bank are scheduled for completion between October and December 2014. Shanghai won the financing contract (with two percent on the financing) from among several local bidders and three international consortiums.

The contract provides for a minimum of 40 percent local content including concrete and steel which will be obtained locally. There might be a slight increase in cost, Roberts said due to site preparation, including pile driving and soil compaction for which the sum of $54 million has already been spent. “We do not want the same mistakes to be made as with the Tarouba Stadium which is now shifting,” he said.

“We do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, so monitoring and controls are in place by different entities, including the Ministry of Finance,” he said “to ensure value for money, correct scope of works, time lines and budgets are kept quite tight. They will also ensure that at any time red flags are raised, problems could be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.”

Who will manage the high performance centres? “We are not going to hand them to sports organisations which most people know are made up of moms and dads, who do a good job, but are not professionally qualified to deliver the goals and objectives Government wants from these facilities,” Roberts said.

A board of independent managers, business people, and lawyers among other people, will be established to oversee the facilities. “They will be run as businesses with business structures and not as recreational facilities,” he said. Recreational facilities and sports grounds are in all regions. Sixty four are currently under refurbishment. Maintenance is one of the most important aspects of the management plan, he said “because in TT the landscape is replete with examples of brilliant sporting facilities that were constructed and within a few years because of a lack of maintenance they diminished in value.”

The Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) which is executing the project, he said has started to develop a business plan in conjunction with the Tourism Development Company and the Ministry of Tourism to market the facilities to the global market. “We will be aggressive, not only in marketing the facilities for training elite athletes, but we will aggressively bid to host international tournaments. We will bid to hold the World Swimming Championships within the next six years. We will be bidding for the CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Games, the Pan Am (Pan American) Games. We will be bidding for the World Cycling Championships, for ITF (International Tennis Federation) tournaments and semi pro... Very will be bidding for everything.”Hosting international competitions bring along media coverage which provides some amount of advertising, and groups of supporters who will want to experience the beaches, business, nightlife, food, and eco-tourism. “Every 10,000 sports tourist that we can increase will increase the GDP of TT by about US$120 million as long as we get them to stay for six nights and five days, at an average spending of US$94 per day. Over the next five years,” he said, “we want in sport tourism specifically to increase the country’s visitor arrival by 50,000.”

Already, Roberts, an international swimming coach noted that the management of the USA Olympic Swim team wants to make the national aquatic centre their training facility in preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The management team visited TT earlier this year to begin negotiations in this regard.

The aquatic centre will include two 50 by 25 metres pools, a diving well, a synchronised swimming pool, and a play park for children. At present, he noted that most elite athletes from North America or Europe would train in countries like Barbados, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. An advantage, however, with proper marketing, he said would be the new state-of-the-art swimming facilities that would “blow away” on an average 15 to 25 year-old concrete structures that do not have the moveable boom that could change the depth of the pool, and have facilities for coaches to film underwater.

“Our comparative advantage will be that our facilities are newer, technologically sophisticated and far better. Most of the other facilities are single 50-metres pool, with a 25-metre pool. We will have five pools in one area,” he said.

To top it off, he said, “We will have sports medicine facilities including MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), a recovery centre, massage tables - all built into the facility so that it will become a one-stop shop for local and international elite athletes.”

When 30 elite swimmers for example, he said come to TT for about two weeks, not only will Caribbean Airlines get the revenue, but the taxi men, and the hospitality sector. They will use the facilities for four to six hours per day at an average of US$5 to US$8 an hour a swimmer. One session will be roughly US$600 per team for 30 members a day.

Were 30 teams to visit and use the facility during the winter season, he said that, “you are looking at US$360,000 or TT$2 million. That is enough money to run the entire facility for the entire year based on maintenance, security, chlorine, and so on. In that short space of time you have covered your cost.” Noting that at present the economics of sport tourism are unknown in TT, Roberts said that his ministry was in discussions with the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Transport to include on the immigration form a section call ‘Sport’ as is done in Barbados.

When visitors come to TT, they come for either business and/or pleasure as stated on the immigration form. Once introduced, Roberts said, “I could go to immigration and ask how many visitors came for sport in 2014, so that I could go to the Finance Minister and say listen, I brought in 24,000 sport tourists and they have contributed so much to the country’s GDP, and we have justified our investments.”

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• Anger at decision not to hand blood bags to drug agencies
• Spanish anti-doping chief calls for wider ban on sports doctor

Joao Havelange, 96, has resigned as Fifa's honorary president after a report ruled he had taken bribes.

The Brazilian was described as "morally and ethically reproachable" for taking kickbacks from a World Cup rights marketing agency.

The report by Fifa's ethics chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert also claimed Nicolas Leoz had received bribes.

Leoz, 84, resigned from the governing body's executive committee last week, citing health and personal reasons.

The Paraguayan was accused in the report of being "not fully candid" in his explanations over the affair.

However, while the report says that payments made in the 1990s to Havelange, who was Fifa president from 1974 to 1988, Leoz and former Fifa executive Ricardo Teixeira, Havelange's son-in-law, qualified as bribes, they were not crimes at the time.

Fifa granted International Sport and Leisure (ISL) exclusive rights to market World Cup tournaments to some of the world's biggest brands. ISL also received millions more from negotiating television broadcast rights.

The company collapsed with huge debts in 2001 and its arrangement with Fifa was subsequently investigated by Swiss authorities.

Fifa was eventually forced by the Swiss supreme court to release documents relating to the case after it repeatedly attempted to block the release of the confidential papers.

It followed a report by the BBC's Panorama programme in 2010 that alleged three senior Fifa officials took bribes from Swiss-based ISL in the 1990s.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter announced in July 2012 that Fifa's new ethics committee would be looking at the bribery allegations. That investigation resulted in the release of Tuesday's report.

It said: "It is certain that not inconsiderable amounts were channelled to former Fifa president Havelange and to his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira as well as to Dr Nicolas Leoz, whereby there is no indication that any form of service was given in return by them.

"These payments were apparently made via front companies in order to cover up the true recipient and are to be qualified as 'commissions', known today as 'bribes'."

Damian Collins, an MP who sits on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and who has led a campaign for Fifa reform, has said Blatter should resign over the findings of the report.

Collins told the Press Association: "Sepp Blatter should himself resign for his failure to expose the wrongdoing sooner, and to take action earlier against those who had done wrong.

"In the light of this report, it is even more incredible that the Fifa executive committee continue to resist calls, from its own advisors, for greater independent scrutiny of its decisions, and the financial interests of its members.

"The impression created by this report is one of an attempted cover-up by Fifa of this massive corruption scandal motivated by the desire to protect some of its leading officials."

The report states that Havelange and Teixeira were "morally and ethically reproachable" for accepting the money.

Leoz told investigators he donated the money he received to a school project - but only in January 2008.

The report states payments were made between 1992 and May 2000.

Questions over Blatter's conduct have also been raised in the past, but the report says there is no evidence he received money from the now-defunct ISL.

But it does raise questions about whether Blatter should have known about the bribes to other executives and labels his behaviour in dealing with aspects of the affair as "clumsy".

The report added: "There are also no indications whatsoever that President Blatter was responsible for a cash flow to Havelange, Teixeira or Leoz, or that that he himself received any payments from the ISL Group, even in the form of hidden kickback payments.

"It must be questioned, however, whether President Blatter knew or should have known over the years before the bankruptcy of ISL that ISL had made payments to other Fifa officials."

Eckert is also critical about the controls that Fifa had in place to prevent such corruption from occurring.

In response to the publication of the report, Blatter said: "I note in particular that, in his conclusions, chairman Eckert states that 'the ISL case is concluded for the Ethics Committee' and that 'no further proceedings related to the ISL matter are warranted against any other football official'.

"I also note with satisfaction that this report confirms that 'President Blatter's conduct could not be classified in any way as misconduct with regard to any ethics rules'.

"I have no doubt that Fifa, thanks to the governance reform process that I proposed, now has the mechanisms and means to ensure that such an issue, which has caused untold damage to the reputation of our institution, does not happen again."

Fifa's ethics committee also took action on Tuesday against a leading Asian member of its executive committee.

Vernon Manilal Fernando, 63, of Sri Lanka was banned from all football activities for eight years after he was found guilty of violating the governing body's code of ethics following a two-day hearing.

The close ally of disgraced former presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam, was now prohibited "from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level," Fifa said.

However the exact charges against Fernando have not been specified.

Fernando said he would attempt to clear his name, adding: "I have been given no reasons for the decision."

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Success is overcoming a challenge: The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity.

Local sport must develop a “can do” attitude that sees difficulties and problems as opportunities. Whenever the key issues facing sport in T&T are discussed, for some people the cure-all answer is simple—money.

It’s not about ideas and structure that can deliver sustainable solutions and revenue streams. It’s never about how national sport organisations (NSO) can achieve more. Or, how do we encourage more women and girls to participate in sport?

It’s not about finding creative solutions to the challenges or about improving good governance, transparency and accountability. The solution is more money.

Sport has powerful emotional and mental benefits. How can we harness these benefits and create value? How can we inspire and motivate the modern generation to embrace the timeless principles and values of sport? How do we promote and communicate the Olympic ideals, Olympism and the Olympic spirit in a way that the modern generation will listen and accept in consideration of the problems facing sport? The process we use to define and frame the problem is important.

What is the nature of the problem, its causes and the elements involved in the problem? Are NSO building foundations for its brand and associating its brand with its core values?

NSOs must develop its brand equity. Managing a brand is a critical issue for any NSO.

Do NSOs understand and appreciate that their brand is what creates sponsorship and revenue opportunities?

The emphasis and focus on money without placing all aspects of problem formulation and the problem statement in its proper context will continue to cause corruption and unethical behaviour to thrive seems to evade many. What is the basis of evaluation?

Is lack of money the illness or the symptom?

There is a tendency for subjective rationality and rationalisation along with implicit favouritism when money is discussed.

Money then becomes the discriminatory pass word for entry. The perception that there is a scarcity of money then becomes the determining factor. What gets lost in the discussion is the fact that money is the means to an end not the end itself. That wealth is created as a result of ideas, knowledge, imagination and creativity gets lost in the shuffle.

As I have stated in previous columns, T&T doesn’t have a money problem. Our problems are that of a lack of creativity, vision, ethical conduct and self-belief.

You can easily get the answer you want to hear by asking the wrong question. There is an abundance of opportunity for NSOs to make significant progress.

How? By focusing, not on the scarcity of money, but on wealth creation.

It requires a paradigm shift and a willingness to accept the challenge and complexity of resolving two different concepts: amateur and professional sport.

The Olympic games were once strictly for amateur athletes. In 1988, professional tennis players appeared at the Olympic games, and four years later the American basketball Dream Team of NBA stars won the coveted gold medal.

The history of modern sports is an evolution from games played primarily for entertainment and leisure to an industry.

Sports over the last hundred years have reflected changing social attitudes and standards. Local sport can transform and thrive with a marketing approach that incorporates the history, social and cultural dimensions that are specific to sport. It’s far better to establish a solid, congruent and coherent foundation, infrastructure, systems and policies first. In other words we need to establish a sustainable sport eco-system.

Risk management and rigorous checks and balances must be foundation stones. NSOs have to generate wealth through the exchange of new ideas, products, quality services and solutions and effective problem solving. Accept no limit. It’s time for a paradigm and culture shift. Money is not a barrier or obstacle.

God Bless. Have a creative and blessed week.

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Wayne Davis II emerged victorious in the college men’s 110 metres hurdles, at the Penn Relays, in Pennsylvania, USA, yesterday.

The Texas A&M University student stopped the clock at 13.67 seconds.

Another Trinidad and Tobago/Texas A&M athlete, Deon Lendore anchored his school to victory in the Championship of America college men’s 4x400m relay. The Texas A&M quartet returned a time of three minutes, 02.52 seconds.

T&T finished fifth in the USA vs the World men’s 4x400m relay, Renny Quow, Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio and double Olympic bronze medallist Lalonde Gordon combining for a 3:02.81 clocking. USA Red won in 3:00.91, from Jamaica (3:01.15), Bahamas (3:02.23) and USA Blue (3:02.64).

The T&T quartet of Sparkle McKnight, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Reyare Thomas and Nandelle Cameron clocked 44.19 seconds, for eighth spot in the USA vs the World women’s 4x100m. Jamaica topped the field in 42.42, beating USA Blue (42.65) and USA Red (42.66) into second and third, respectively.

T&T sprinter Emmanuel Callender got to the line in 10.49 to secure fourth spot in the Olympic Development men’s 100m dash. The title went to Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, in 10.29.

Temple University’s Kiersten LaRoche produced a 5.96 metres leap to top the eastern college women’s long jump field.

Jamol James finished eighth in the college men’s 100m championship race in 10.60 seconds. The University of Tennessee athlete had clocked 10.58 in the qualifying round to advance to the final seventh fastest. Another T&T sprinter, Louisiana State University’s Shermund Allsop got home in 10.64 for 10th spot overall.

Gordon’s club team, Zenith Velocity won the Olympic Development men’s 4x100m relay in 39.72 seconds. The T&T athlete ran the second leg. The Queen’s Royal College combination of Asa Guevara, Nathan Farinha, Jonathan Farinha and Jamoul Pierre clocked 3:12.17, for fourth spot in the Championship of America high school boys’ 4x400m event.

The St Francois Girls College quartet of Analisa Hassett, Peli Alzola, Jeminise Parris and Tsai Anne Joseph got the baton round the track in 47.72 seconds to bag bronze in the large schools high school girls’ 4x100m relay.

Coppin State University’s Deandra Daniel cleared the bar at 1.64m to finish 15th in the college women’s high jump. Gabriela Cumberbatch was 48th overall in the college women’s 400m hurdles, the Auburn University student clocking 1:03.27.

And in the 100m dash for men 60 years and over, Terrance Skinner secured bronze in 13.56 seconds.

At a dual meet in Washington, Washington State University’s Shawna Fermin struck gold in the women’s 400m in 55.01 seconds, and then picked up silver in the 200m in 24.95.

In Arkansas, Kashef Daniel won the Red Wolves Open men’s high jump event with a 1.80m clearance. The Arkansas State University student finished fourth in the triple jump with a 13.57m effort.

At the Drake Relays, in Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior, Durell Busby claimed bronze in the university/college men’s 110m hurdles in 13.84 seconds.

Jarrin Solomon finished fourth in a high quality men’s 400m race, the T&T quartermiler crossing the line in 45.76 seconds. Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos, the silver medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games, triumphed in an impressive 44.74, forcing former Olympic champion, Jeremy Wariner to settle for silver. Wariner clocked 45.35 to finish ahead of his fellow-American Marcus Boyd (45.69).

North Dakota State University’s Deborah John clocked 14.53 seconds to finish 15th overall in the women’s 100m hurdles. And in the women’s triple jump, University of Iowa junior, Carisa Leacock was 23rd with a wind-assisted 11.41m effort.

At the Texas Tech Red Raider Open, Ade Alleyne-Forte finished third in the men’s 400m in 46.97 seconds. His younger brother, Abilene Christian University’s Osei Alleyne-Forte was 13th overall in 49.11. South Plains College sprinter, Shun-Shauna Mason was fifth fastest in the women’s 100m dash in 11.87 seconds.

And Jovon Toppin finished seventh in the Arkansas Team Invitational men’s 400m finals, the University of Florida senior clocking 48.80 seconds.

Source

Cycling Ireland has revoked its nomination of Pat McQuaid for President of the International Cycling Union (UCI) because it did not follow its own rules, it has announced.

Cycling Ireland has now called an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to allow its members to vote on whether McQuaid should be allowed seek another term as the head of cycling's world governing body.

The unexpected turnabout follows the decision earlier this month by Cycling Ireland's Board to back McQuaid to stand for a third term as President despite him being under severe pressure following the Lance Armstrong scandal.

Vice-president Anthony Moran, the only Board member out of the seven not to have voted for McQuaid, resigned after the meeting.

He has now successfully challenged the outcome, claiming it was not carried out within the legal framework and guidelines of Cycling Ireland.

Cycling Ireland's own legal team have declared the result null and void because President Rory Wyley did not follow the correct procedures.

"I'm very happy that they've [Cycling Ireland] made a very hard decision to hand it back over to the grass roots," Moran told VeloNews. 

"You have to take your hat off to them for having the courage to do it.

"I read the whole USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) report before the Board meeting with Pat.

"I went back through all the correspondence between William Bock, the USADA attorney, and the UCI.

"It's just constant drugs, drugs, drugs.

"I lost confidence in the UCI and consequently I lost confidence in Pat as leader.

"From a governance perspective, somebody has to take the rap for it.

"Unfortunately, it's an Irishman at the top but there have been too many drugs scandals, too many things going on, too many mistakes made.

"Somebody has to take the blame."

The news is potentially a devastating blow to McQuaid, whose nomation will now effectively be in the hands of the Irish cycling public, who will probably be less sympathetic than the administrators.

"I was honoured that the board of Cycling Ireland endorsed my nomination as a candidate for the Presidency of the UCI earlier this month," McQuaid said in a statement.

"I understand that Cycling Ireland has now decided to refer the matter to an EGM as a result of a technicality arising from the fact that its President temporarily vacated the chair of the nomination meeting so that he could contribute to the meeting under the chair of the CEO.

"This decision was taken on the basis of legal advice on procedural rules not on the merits of my nomination which the Board has endorsed."

Moran claimed that if McQuaid gets get the nomination at the EGM - on a date still to be announced - then he will back it.

"If Pat goes through the process and Pat gets elected, then happy days," he told VeloNews.

"That's democracy and I've no problem with that.

"I just think that after USADA, if cycling had just one candidate standing in a global election then it's an indictment on all of the cycling nations.

"I think this will make a difference and I feel that you will see a couple of really strong candidates coming forward now."