Board appointment important to us—President Forde

Cecil Forde, president of the T&T Boxing Association (TTBA), is making another plea to Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts to make urgent representation for the T&T Boxing Board to be appointed very soon.

Watts’ comments that the boxing board is a C-class board, which is not a priority compared to other boards such as T&TEC, WASA and the NCC, did not go down well with Forde and the boxing fraternity.

The TTBA boss, in a letter to the media, said, “The TTBA and the boxing fraternity have been pleading and begging the Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs for the appointment of a boxing board. On the 25th of May, he responded, claiming that we need not worry since recommendations were being made and would be forwarded to the committee that appoints the board.”

He said, “We are hearing rumours and speculations of persons selected, but nothing concrete. We are now being told that the Board is a C-class board and it’s not a priority at this time, so we should wait and hold the strain.”

Coming on the heels of the cancellation of more than 10 boxing cards for the first half of the year, Forde responded to the minister’s statement by saying, “This may be okay for the Honourable Minister and those making the decisions, but for us it’s unacceptable. We’re dealing with young people and coaches and administrators making sacrifices and volunteering their services and time. Boxing is the most grassroots of all sports. Our gyms and clubs are in areas where individuals from the east can’t go into west and north can’t go into south.”

He added, “To make matters worse, we have been trying to meet with the minister, but instead he has chosen to meet with two of our executive members, claiming that they have given him confidential information about wrongdoings in the TTBA.

These members are the PRO and the Assistant Secretary. No attempt was made to meet with the president, vice president or general secretary of the TTBA.

We were reliably informed that attempts were being put in place to have funding approved by the Sports Company of T&T for our schoolboys and junior team participating in the just-concluded Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Tournament in St Lucia, to be managed by two individuals. They were expected to select the team and buy airline tickets, etc.”

Forde continued, “These actions have emboldened the two members, who have since launched a series of attacks on our Association in the media, doing their utmost to bring us into disrepute, eventually leading to new elections. The TTBA is again asking/pleading with the Honourable Minister and members of the Selection Committee to treat us fairly. We urgently need a boxing board, or our four-year Olympic cycle will be ruined.

“I draw your attention to the fact that the TTEC, WASA, and NCC Boards do not shut down these entities from operating, but the Boxing Board shuts down boxing,” Forde concluded.