Government to blame for World Cup fiasco

The Government must take full responsibility for the national disappointment that has greeted the news of T&T’s non-selection as the host of either the opening match or the final match of the 2007 World Cup.

The Government’s strategy in pursuing the bonanza of opportunities to be derived from World Cup 2007 was confused and confusing, its planning was woeful and the actual execution of plans childish.

From the start, the Government’s strategy of not putting in a competitive bid because of the potential for ill-will and jealousy among our regional neighbours was wrongheaded and naive.

On May 6, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said this country had not made a specific bid—which was immediately disputed by Sports Minister Roger Boynes—to host any matches.

Mr Manning justified this country’s lukewarm effort by saying T&T had to guard against the regional impression that it was “grabbing” for everything.

The Prime Minister was referring to T&T’s bid to be named as the site of the secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and to T&T’s boundary dispute with Barbados.

Mr Manning said, “Our improved prosperity in recent times and increased influence in the region have been the source of some discord.

“We have advanced ourselves as a candidate for the headquarters of the FTAA and we have had the support of all Caricom countries.

“What T&T did not want to do was to compete against those very countries that support us as the benefits that could accrue from these matches would be more needed in those countries than in T&T...We are prepared to take what the other countries do not.”

Mr Manning’s magnanimity and sensitivity to the feelings of our Caribbean—and in particular our Barbadian—fellows may have been the politically correct thing to do.

But it will also be seen as a slap in the face of the country’s business and tourism sectors, which will be forced to stand by as their Barbadian and Jamaican counterparts reap rich rewards.

In another sign of confusion, the note on T&T’s bidding process was only brought to Cabinet on May 6—the day that the bids closed.

As a result, this country’s bid had to be amended to meet with the dictates of Cabinet and the documents were flown to Barbados by National Security aircraft.

Given the rush, it was almost inevitable that this country’s bid documents arrived after the deadline—reason enough for the bid to have been disqualified without being opened.

This relatively dismal showing also casts some doubt on the $100 million programme of expenditure that the State and the Queen’s Park Oval have announced.

Given the fact that this country will not host the two showcase matches of the World Cup, it would be difficult to justify the expenditure of $40 million on expanding and refurbishing the Oval.

While the fact that the Indian cricket team will be based here provides some succour, the grievous sense of missed opportunities is most galling for the cricket-loving public—mainly because T&T had a great deal going for it in terms of hosting the opening or closing matches.

It should be noted that this country has considerable skills in event management, as can be borne out by the annual hosting of Carnival.

It should also be noted that, in Peter Minshall, T&T has someone who has choreographed the opening ceremonies of at least three Olympics. And in the Queen’s Park Oval, T&T has the venue with the largest seating capacity in the Caribbean.

Rather than attempting mistakenly to rejoice, as Mr Boynes did yesterday, in the misguided belief that Brian Lara would be confronting Sachin Tendulkar at the Oval, Mr Boynes may wish to reflect on his own credibility and capability in the face of this fiasco and consider his career options.