Sports
Jonathan Ramnanansingh
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards believes the board’s renewed focus to financial transparency and accountability helped them regain corporate and government confidence in 2025.
Edwards said the association’s reforms during his tenure marked a turning point for local football, and also restored corporate trust in the TTFA.
Speaking during an interview with TTFA media on December 28, Edwards said that bringing back corporate support into football was something his board would have strived on, as the new executive.
He added that the make-up of the current executive was deliberately designed to reflect that priority.
“We would have gone out of our way to ensure that the number of chartered accountants on the executive alone would speak to understanding that finance is important in terms of moving football forward,” Edwards said.
A major pillar was the decision to work closely with Fifa to strengthen financial oversight at the federation.
“We would have also engaged with Fifa to have a financial consultant brought on as well. We have at the FA now, started in 2025, a financial consultant where we do our audits.”
He confirmed that this system ensures strict accountability for all funds received. Additionally, he said, all funds received by the FA, including corporate contributions, are now subject to audits, with sponsors being shown in advance how their money will be spent, and provided with reports after the funds are utilised.
According to Edwards, that shift in governance has been critical in changing the perception around the TTFA’s administration.
“That change, I think, was a big push for corporate TT to see that when they do invest in football, every dollar goes to football. That was important to us and the executive.”
For the 2025-2026 period, the TTFA and its national teams secured several key sponsorships from the National Gas Company, bmobile, KFC, Stag and Sunshine Snacks, among others.
In addition to their renewed corporate support, Edwards said the government’s backing throughout 2025 was another major achievement.
Despite meeting and laying out their plans with the previous administration in 2024, the TTFA immediately met with Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts after the change in government on April 28. That early engagement brought immediate rewards.
“When he (Watts) saw our plans and our vision, he was excited about it. So much so we would have gotten the grandparent law passed within a couple of weeks.”
The grandparent law allows foreign-based players (even if they are not TT citizens) with Trinidadian or Tobagonian grandparents to gain citizenship to become eligible to play for national sporting teams, like the senior football squad.
Edwards described the level of state support as unprecedented in recent years.
“The entire government has been supportive. You would have looked at games when you see the entire Cabinet coming out to games and giving that support. I think the boys (players) really appreciated that.”
Government assistance also extended to infrastructure, with the refurbishment of the home team’s dressing room at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, symbolising what Edwards called a new era of professionalism.
For the president, those changes serve as progressive steps towards taking football into the 21st century.
Looking back, Edwards believes the administrative groundwork laid in 2025 has positioned the sport for a brighter 2026.
“What we do is important. How we do things is important. How it looks is important. Getting that buy-in was important and the government would have given us tremendous support in making sure these things came to reality.”
