Shabazz released from Miami jail

ASSISTANT National football coach Jamaal Shabazz returned home on Sunday after being released from the Federal Detention Centre Miami.

Shabazz who was detained by US State Department officers in July for alleged possession of a forged American visa, was set free by a Miami judge last week, who ruled that the 41-year-old Jamaat-al-Muslimeen member had served his time. The soft-spoken coach of the Caledonia AIA and technical director of the national women’s squads, was on his way to attend a coaching course in the United States on behalf of the TTFF, when he was arrested by officers at the Miami Airport. According to Shabazz, who also goes by the name Hyron Best, he was ordered to perform 15 hours of community service in Miami, including coaching sessions, once he returns to the US. But the affable Shabazz noted that his re-entry into the US will depend on an agreement between  the Trinidad and Tobago Government and the  US Embassy at Marli Street, Port-of-Spain. Shabazz is  eager to know his status with the national teams by week end before resuming his coaching duties. But he must first sort out his travel documents, the cause of his arrest. FIFA vice-president and TTFF special advisor Jack Austin Warner who was in the Unirted States for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, gave assistance to Shabazz while he was in detention, and at his hearings Shabazz was represented by Federal Public Defender Faith Mesnekoff.