Cabinet approves $6M for Warriors

Addressing the media at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Roger Boynes, said the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) had requested $13.9 million to cover the cost of team preparation, administration expenses and match expenses.

Boynes said corporate Trinidad and Tobago was approached to assist, and the responses were positive. The companies which showed an interest in assisting, Boynes said, were British Gas, BHP, NGC, Petrotrin, Carib and Eastern Credit Union. TSTT and Clico, Boynes said, had agreed to assist with the $4,400,000 chartered flight to Bahrain.

Those companies have been directed to hold discussions with the TTFF and the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Boynes said.    

The minister was confident that the donations from these companies would surpass the requested sum, adding that the excess could be held back to be used "when" the team qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. "When that happened," he said, "Cabinet would again meet to decide on financial assistance to cover the cost of sending the team to Germany."