When timing is everything - Things That Matter column

The candour and unflinching honesty of former acting president of the Football Federation (TTFF) president Lennox Watson at a press conference last week, was a breath of fresh air.

Regardless of polarised views, Watson, who on Sunday gave way to Raymond Tim Kee, laid out the reality of past and present governance in local football.

The truth offends so it ought not to be any surprise that there will be attempts to discredit or challenge what he said.

Some pundits hold the view that it was too little too late as Watson should have spoken up before, but timing is everything. Watson in his good judgment believed that last week was the right time to say what he had to say. The message is what should resonate.

Football does not stand alone, all national sport organisations (NSOS) simply must get better.

Significant improvement is needed. We are still using old and traditional methods and thinking in the hope of addressing contemporary issues, concerns and challenges.

If we don’t accept that sports leadership, administration and governance is failing our clubs, communities and sportsmen and women, then we are so far away from solving the problems blighting local sport that is not funny.

The down fall of local sport is a sense of triumphalism and self-delusion. When we achieve success, we believe that we have arrived and that we are much better than we really are.

That self-delusion has caused under achievement and the failure to sustain success seems to evade almost every single organisation. The top down method of leadership and sport administration is no longer effective and efficient.

In the modern environment it has failed miserably. One and done. We achieve success once. It is exceedingly difficult for any organisation to perform beyond the vision, imagination, potential or limitations of its leaders. Leaders set the tone, strategic direction, priorities and standards. They provide the inspiration, motivation and impetus. It takes more than strong opinion, feelings, getting carried away or misplaced loyalties.

Sport has its own nuances and subtleties. The right knowledge, commitment, skill and experience ought not to be discounted. Current International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacque Rogge once said: “because sport is based on ethics and fair competition, the governance of sport should fulfill standards in terms of transparency, democracy and accountability”.

It is important that those who care deeply about sport in T&T see it as their duty, obligation and responsibility to demand higher standards of sport leadership and governance and a sport governance culture that insists on the highest level of competence, integrity and ethical standards. There must be zero tolerance for unethical and undemocratic sport governance.” In 2008, the IOC defined the universal principles of good governance for the Olympic and sport movement and these were fully endorsed at the 2009 Olympic Congress in Copenhagen.

Principles recommended included: Members of the executive committee should be chosen on the basis of their ability, competence, quality leadership capacity, integrity and experience.

That NSOs develop, adapt and implement ethical principles and rules. The autonomy of sport must be maintained and preserved.

Government ought not to run sport or micro manage its future. The relationship should be facilitative and complementary with government and sport working together towards the same goals.

Issues of conflict of interest cannot be swept under the table. No one with a personal or business interest in any matter should be involved in the decision making and adequate procedures should be established so as to avoid conflict of interests.

Building on the insights offered by the universal principles requires more than reading and comprehension. A culture of zero tolerance for unethical governance and leadership requires a change in thinking if local sport is to become a hotbed of appropriate structures, processes, systems and behaviours that help NSOs and sport run better.

Zero tolerance is the start point, closely followed by the determination to act and live by good governance principles.