Champs East San Juan fight exclusion

EASTERN Football Association champs Samba Xtra Malt East San Juan United have lodged an appeal against their exclusion from this year’s National Super League. According to a club representative, of 11 clubs applying for promotion to the NSL, the San Juan-based team is the only one that has been denied. So East San Juan United have decided to take their plight to the Appeals Committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. The representative claims the stated criterion to be eligible for promotion was winning the league title in the respective zones. He said this was pointed out by EFA president and chairman of the tournament and fixtures committee Lennox Watson.

But he claims, the criterion was changed after East San Juan United won the EFA title. The San Juan official pointed out that a letter indicating this change dated November 28 last, was received by “fax” on December 2, while the final league match against Carib FC was on November 16. He pointed out the new criteria involved attending an interview and noted that results were not important. Also among the new criteria was that clubs must have an impact on the community regarding crowd support and the ability to be competitive. The East San Juan United representative noted that of the clubs included in the NSL, two finished third in their zone, one was fourth, one seventh and  the other at the bottom end of their league.

He said, East San Juan not only won the EFA title but were named “Team Of The Year,” and he pointed out that teams selected for the NSL are not community-based but company-based and had virtually no crowd support. The representative said, based on the old and new criteria, it is impossible to see how East San Juan United were not promoted to the NSL. As a result, “we are asking the appeals committee to study all the facts and to give some justification for the selection of other teams ahead of our club.”