Jack: $50M to prepare Warriors

In a specially-arranged news conference at the Teak Room, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Warner also indicated that at the end of Trinidad and Tobago’s participation in the FIFA World Cup in Germany, he will be taking his exit as a local football administrator.

Warner also revealed the total sum of the team’s expenses — in their World Cup preparation — $50,221,925.44.

Of this sum $9,013,942.98 is for administrative funding; $1,012,725 for the staging of local training sessions; $3,450,000 for friendly internationals, and $13,977,825 for bonus payment of the team’s players.

And for the pre-tournament camps in London, Austria and Germany, the respective costs are $6,805,073.02; $6,783,090.02 and $9,179,269.42.

"A plot has been hatched by my political opponents and those of the UNC (United National Congress) which they have in fact named ‘Operation Get Warner: A prelude to the General Elections of 2006."’

He directed his wrath at Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Roger Boynes , a week ago, wrote to TTFF president Oliver Camps asking for an urgent submission of a budget to be covered by Government for the team’s World Cup plans.

"To Minister Boynes, who has tried to discredit me by attempting to give the public the impression that there is some tardiness on my part in submitting a budget for TT’s participation in the World Cup or something sinister, or both, I wish to advise Minister Boynes that, if he can, he should not let others push him into behaving ‘boyishly," Warner said.

The FIFA vice-president made it known that he almost single-handedly funded the team’s 2006 World Cup campaign, even the US$100,000 salary of coach Leo Beenhakker and assistants Whim Rijsbergen and Theo De Jong.

The monthly sum, he said, is equivalent to that being spent by Government on a 12-year-old Skyship 600 surveillance blimp, purchased last week.

"Why the haste, Minister Boynes?" Warner asked. "Why not hustle to pay the coaches’ salaries for October, for November or even December which you had promised to pay since early October?"

"It is informative to note that I have since paid the coaches’ salaries for October, November and December, as well as their bonuses for having brought this country to its first-ever World Cup final."

The CONCACAF and CFU president noted that he has also paid for the team’s victory street parade on November 17, on their successful return from their 1-0 historic triumph in Bahrain the previous day.

"I paid the big truck and all the performers related to your Government’s hiring worth $106,950 despite the fact that I had nothing to do with these arrangements," he said. Warner said the entertainers were not paid "after more than four weeks and a lot of haggling between your (Boynes) Ministry and that of the Community Development."

Addressing Minister Boynes again, Warner stated emphatically: "In my capacity as chairman of TT Germany 2006 Limited, we do not wish to have any funds from your government for this World Cup project. "We have come this far without any funds from your government, except for $2.6 million given at an earlier period, and we shall complete the journey without any further government funding."

Warner noted that he will speak to the British-based TT players this weekend to discuss the TTFF’s plans to pay each of them a sum of money ranging from US$20,000-$100,000 based on some well-defined criteria.

"Pay the footballers directly, pay the coaches’ salaries and bonuses directly and retroactively but do not make any other financial contribution to us. We shall overcome," Warner urged Minister Boynes.