Move to shift Rugby 7s to Barbados questioned

Speaking at a press conference called at the front of the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports office, Ramsey Moore said that the Tobago House of Assembly has dealt another devastating blow on sport on the island.

“Over the last five years, the Tobago International Rugby Tournament was held here but there will be none this year. This is because Barbados will host the tournament and why is that, because there was too much procrastination by the THA (Tobago House of Assembly).

No support was provided to the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Federation and as a result Tobago has lost out again,” she explained.

Over 600 players and officials, which would usually come to Tobago are now expected to journey to Barbados in the first week of December, according to Ramsey Moore.

“We have lost out big time. We must be concerned about sport tourism, somebody in the THA needs to answer and answer now, why did they allow this to happen.

The person who owns the tournament is a citizen of this country but he has taken it to Barbados because the Barbados Rugby Association grabbed the idea and they are now providing financial support and marketing support.

That is a slap on the sport in the island of Tobago,” Ramsey Moore said.

Contacted on the issue, Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Huey Cadette said that it is the prerogative of the organisers to determine what territory they want to host their tournament.

“They felt that Tobago in general has not given the tournament the level of support that it should.

What I do know is that for the hosting of the tournament last year, the cheque might have been made out to the name of what was listed and there was an issue, so there was genuinely a delay in changing it and that should not have happened.

Sometime earlier this year, they indicated that they would be moving the tournament to Barbados,” Cadette explained