No confirmation yet on men’s team friendlies

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ROBERT Hadad, chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, said there is no confirmation yet on proposed friendly international matches for the men’s national team against a few regional teams, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Concacaf Zone qualifiers.

TT, under the guidance of coach Terry Fenwick, have been drawn in Group F of the Concacaf First Round qualifiers. They will meet Guyana on March 25 (at home), Puerto Rico on March 28 (away), Bahamas on June 5 (away) and St Kitts/Nevis on June 8 (at home).

Due to the covid19 pandemic, as well as the suspension by FIFA of the TTFA (from September to November 2020), due to the former executive’s failure to desist from pursuing a challenge at the local High Court over their removal from office, Fenwick is yet to be afforded a competitive match since his appointment in January 2020.

In a recent Newsday report, Fenwick indicated his desire to play a few warm-up matches against regional teams, as well as have a training camp in Florida, US, ahead of the qualifiers.

Hadad said on Monday, “We are looking at some regional teams to play some warm-up games in Trinidad – St Vincent/Grenadines and Dominica. We have invited them.”

He continued, “We’re waiting on confirmation with regards to timing, and we have to work along with the Ministries (of National Security and Health) to get the Home of Football up and running properly, so we can use it.”

The Home of Football, located next to the Ato Boldon Stadium, at Balmain, Couva, is being used as a step-down facility for covid19 patients.

According to Hadad, the immediate intention for the Home of Football is for use as a bio-secure bubble for the national men’s team.

Hadad noted, “The other thing we’re looking at with Terry is a training programme in Miami, but we can’t confirm that as yet.”