Nakhid rattles Lebanese again

FORMER Trinidad and Tobago football team captain David Nakhid is the centre of controversy, yet again, with his Lebanese club Al-Ansar.

The 39-year-old midfielder found himself in hot waters with the team’s administration, as well as the Leb-anese Football Federation after they terminated his two-year deal, after one year. Nakhid, who was then accused of breaking the contract was also ordered to repay the club a penalty of US $100,000. The midfielder was a member of Al-Ansar in the mid-1990s, but was embroiled in a dispute with the club and the Federation in May 1997. He was accused of fraud concerning the transfer of striker Peter Prosper from United Petrotrin and was jailed for three days. Through the intervention of FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and then FIFA head Joao Havelange, the matter was settled out of court after his US$40,000 bail was paid by the FIFA’s Players Status Committee. But Nakhid was ruled the liable party and was ordered to repay the bailout sum. He was also restricted to playing in international matches for Trinidad and Tobago. Nakhid, who was also accused of inciting 26 African footballers in Lebanon to protest their ill-treatment by the Federation, saw his ban lifted on September 12, 1997.

Speaking from Lebanon yesterday, the former St Mary’s College and Joe Public captain, who also plied his trade in the United States, Switzerland, Greece and Sweden gave full details of the saga, which began in 2001 when he rejoined Al-Ansar after a spell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “The Lebanese (Football) Federation was changed after the intervention of their Government, and FIFA and I rejoined the club under its new president Salim Diab, who is also a member of Government and a right-hand man of the Prime Minister Rafique Heriri. Without any legal reason, they (Al-Ansar) paralysed the Federation, who in turn, couldn’t do anything and refused to give a verdict in the matter. I got my lawyer, Jean Haider, who is the Honorary Consul to Lebanon from Trinidad and Tobago to assist but, after three months had passed, we realised that the media was silenced and couldn’t reveal anything about the issue. We had to take it to FIFA,” Nakhid said.

Haider made his client’s case known to Warner who, “because of (his influence) in FIFA, went beyond his duty to get the decision, which was made in our favour, on July 4 in Zurich, Switzerland, at a meeting of the FIFA Dispute/Resolution Chamber.” Nakhid was awarded financial damages, which he did not reveal, and is now a free agent, but stated that the FIFA decision “was big news, since I’m basically the most popular player in Lebanon. The Lebanese people thought my cause was lost due to the stance by the Federation, while it was significant for me that Warner intervened, since no politician would’ve been able to do what Warner did with the matter,” Nakhid affirmed. The outspoken Nakhid is currently residing in the Middle East country with his wife Rima and three-year-old son Ali Kazim while he admits to frequently visiting his other two sons - Dmitri and Jafar, at his other location in Greece. Nakhid, who wore the TT captain’s armband from 1996, retired from international duty on April 1, 1998 but made a comeback during the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA. But, after he led a players’ dispute with the TTFF over the disbursement of players’ bonus fees, he retired for good following the team’s 1-0 loss to Canada in the semifinals.