Red Card to Trinidad & Tobago

On the day that T&T qualified for the World Cup, November 16th 2005, the country erupted. Dancing in the streets, people abandoning their jobs to go celebrate with friends, music, partying and frenzied flag-waving until the wee hours of the following morning – it was a time of revelry.

The Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, declared the following day a public holiday, and waxed on about the ‘historic achievement’ of the Warriors. Pundits pontificated about how T&T would finally make its mark on the world – alongside the sporting feat of the Warriors, we could parade our culture on the ‘world stage’. Said the ever-eloquent Jack Warner, “‘Trinidad and Tobago will light up Germany like no other country ever has or ever will.’”

Not anymore.

I’ve already blogged about the likely ban on steel pan (and attendant riddim sections) at World Cup matches.

Now, even more seriously, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Warriors Germany campaign has withdrawn all involvement with the ‘cultural initiative’ that had been designed to ” heighten awareness of the team and country before and during the matches.”

I’ll quote from the Trinidad Express article at length:

At Monday’s executive meeting, [LOC] members unanimously voted to withdraw from the exercise after reviewing Government’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for embracing the LOC-initiated project, proposing a joint approach or, sharing its own strategy for providing that aspect of support to the Warriors.

…according to T&T/Germany 2006 chief executive officer and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation official Richard Groden, the LOC found itself unable to confirm commitments to suppliers of goods and services in Germany, make down payments on hotel accommodation, secure airline tickets, or follow-up on arrangements for ground transport, or confirm bookings at rehearsal and performance spaces, all of which became increasingly expensive with each passing day.

If I am incensed, I can only begin to imagine how the dozens of local entertainers and members of the business community who had pledged their support – because they wanted to see our country shine – must feel. Trinbagonians and Warrior fans everywhere are appalled. We have wasted a golden opportunity to introduce the world to our culture. In so doing, we have reinforced every “backward, third world” stereotype. We have failed our Warriors.

Red Card to the T&T Government.