Shabazz unsure of getting job back

JAMAAL SHABAZZ is yet to find out whether or not he will be re-appointed assistant national senior football team coach by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF). The 41-year-old was recently released from the Federal Detention Centre, Miami for alleged possession of a forged American visa.

“Since I’ve returned (on Sunday) I haven’t had any discussion with the TTFF,” Shabazz told radio station Radio 97FM yesterday. In the meantime, the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen member is focussing his attention on his struggling club Caledonia AIA, claiming that he is “doing a lot of rebuilding work with (the team).” Shabazz, who also serves as head 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 held by immigration officials at Miami Airport. The former goalkeeper, who also goes by the name Hyron Best, was also mandated to perform 15 hours of community service in Miami, including coaching sessions, once he returns to the US. But his re-entry into the US will depend on an agreement with the American Embassy at Marli Street, Port-of-Spain and the Trinidad and Tobago Government.

The soft-spoken coach was quick to refute claims that he ignored a request for an interview with US Embassy officials in Port-of-Spain last March concerning his visa. “I had not been informed properly by the officials at the Embassy,” he stressed in the radio interview. In July, Ward Murrow, the Embassy’s Consular General, revealed that Shabazz was guilty of a visa discrepancy. According to Murrow, a letter was sent to Shabazz asking him to appear for an interview to discuss matters concerning his travel documents, including a revoked visa. But Shabazz was quick to point out yesterday that he “never received a summons.” “They sent me a letter saying that I needed to re-apply for the visa,” said Shabazz. “But the address that they sent it (the letter) to, I was not living there anymore,” he stated on Radio 97FM yesterday.