In light of the Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts requesting that officials of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) remove T&T from the Red Steel name, Damien O'Donohoe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CPL has responded by saying that the Red Steel franchise is not based in T&T.
Roberts wrote to O'Donohoe on Tuesday and asked him to make a public statement on whether or not the CPL had agreed to drop T&T from the name. Roberts said that a while now CPL had agreed but yet the name was still being bandied around.
O'Donohoe responded by stating: “CPL can confirm that it has agreed to omit the words ‘T&T’ from the Red Steel team name based on a request from the Minister of Sport due to his view that the use of the country name ‘infringes’ on the protocols surrounding the use of the name and the sovereignty of the nation.
"CPL would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the Red Steel team is not a franchise that is based in T&T. It is a team selected from the fantastic talent pool across the country. The team is not restricted to play its home games in T&T, and ultimately, any decision on where the team is based is dependent on the commitment and support that CPL has already enjoyed with other Governments and owners.
"The fans in T&T are second to none. They were fantastic supporters of CPL during its first year, and we look forward to bringing more games to T&T, no matter where the franchise is based."
Information reaching the T&T Guardian was that the three matches scheduled for later this month in Trinidad will remain at the Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.
A source close to the situation said that there is no truth to the fact that the matches were going to be moved to St Kitts, where the finals weekend will be played.