PADARATH CALLS ON SHAMFA TO INTERVENE IMMEDIATELY
Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath says that he is deeply troubled and concerned by a video making the rounds on social media, with players of the Trinidad and Tobago Women Soca Warrior team begging cap in hand for “any type” of assistance to get them through the qualifying round to the World Cup finals.
Padarath is calling on Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Shamfa Cudjoe to immediately intervene in the situation and provide mediation, relief and quick resolution to the matter.
Frustrated national women footballers Arin King and Lauryn Hutchinson have taken to social media to beg for help to ensure that the national team qualifies for the World Cup finals. Both women have outlined the basic needs of food, accommodation, transportation and training in order for the national team to be prepared for the qualifying rounds.
Padarath stated that this is an embarrassing state of affairs and the image of Trinidad and Tobago is taking a beating on the international stage with respect to the issue of how we treat our national athletes and representatives.
He added that while the government was touting the national sport policy as pro athlete, this situation illustrates quite the opposite. The MP called on the Sport Minister to deal with the funding for athletes and getting them prepared for competitive matches and meets as opposed to only looking at how the athletes could be rewarded post facto.
Padarath said that he noted that some of the players were already abroad without coaching, facilities for training etc. and said that the Minister needed to act expeditiously to resolve the matter.