Nakhid says he’s no sell-out

And he has launched a stinging attack on FIFA vice-president Jack Warner who made the charge as Special Advisor of the Football Federation.

Nakhid also promised to reveal everything about his reported links to the Bahrain Football Association and the reasons he was axed as team scout for the Warriors when he returns to Trinidad and Tobago early next week.

Nakhid spoke yesterday to Newsday sports columnist Andre Baptiste on the Dale and Tony Show on radio station i95.5FM.

The 41-year-old is currently in Bahrain where he has been reportedly been offered a top coaching position for the Bahrain Under-20 team which he said he will consider after November 16.

He is currently at the centre of a swirling controversy surrounding a reported offer extended to him to assist the Bahrain Football Association, weeks away for a crucial two-leg play-off with Trinidad and Tobago.

Winner of the play-offs on November 12 in Port-of-Spain and four days later in Manama will secure a berth in the 32-team World Cup Finals in Germany next year.

Yesterday Nahkid said it was ridiculous to suggest that he is a traitor as suggested by a Football Federation media release on Monday which stated that an acquaintance of his has been attempting to secure video material of recent Trinidad and Tobago team matches. "The exchange of tapes is quite normal. In fact the coaching staff has sent video material to Bahrain. I have e-mails to prove this. So it is absolutely stupid to suggest otherwise," said Nakhid.

He said Warner and the Football Federation were trying to distract the public from the issue at hand which he said was getting the national football team to the World Cup in Germany.

Nakhid said the Football Federation has realised that they made a mistake by terminating his services by claiming that he made racist comments about the Syrian community in a televison interview two weeks ago.

Nakhid said that he was fired because of a run-in he had with assistant national coach Whim Rijsbergen in Panama City prior to a crucial CONCACAF World Cup qualifier earlier this month.

He said he has given 24 years of his life to Trinidad and Tobago football and has not benefited in any way from his exploits on the field. It is understood that he has an outstanding claim of US$100,000 for his work as national team scout which he intends to collect from the Football Federation.

While in Bahrain Nakhid said he was invited to watch the senior team practice but bluntly refused acknowledging that he could be photographed and the image used for publicity purposes which will further place him in a bad light with the Trinidad and Tobago public.

He suggested that the focus should be on getting the national team ready for the play-offs and not about treachery. The former midfielder also slammed what he described as a "culture of mediocrity" being promoted by the Football Federation.

He maintained that he is a free agent and that he must explore his options since he had a wife and family to maintain but insisted that he is not a traitor to the Trinidad and Tobago cause.