PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The tenure of former national men’s team head coach Dwight Yorke with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) ended not over performance alone, but over finances.
TTFA president Kieron Edwards disclosed Thursday that the organization simply could not meet the salary expectations put forward by Yorke during negotiations to revise his contract.
The governing body earlier announced that the two sides had parted ways “by mutual agreement” after failing to reach consensus on updated contractual terms and remuneration.
World Cup mission falls short
Yorke, 54, was appointed head coach in November 2024 with a clear objective: guide Trinidad and Tobago to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But that ambition ultimately slipped away.
Trinidad and Tobago finished third in Group B behind regional rivals Jamaica national football team and group winners Curaçao national football team, who secured their first-ever appearance at the World Cup.
While the team’s results played a role in the evaluation process, Edwards indicated that financial sustainability ultimately became the decisive factor.
“Numbers weren’t adding up”
Speaking during an interview on i95.5 FM Trinidad and Tobago, Edwards explained that the federation had to prioritize responsible financial management following a difficult period in its recent history.
“I want to start off by saying that being the president of the executive coming off of normalisation, one of the things that we said was that never again is T&T to be put in a place where we are put under normalisation by FIFA based on finances. We need to run the organisation in a prudent way and we need to make sure our programmes are sustainable,” Edwards explained.
During the World Cup qualification campaign, he noted, the association had greater financial flexibility because sponsors were more willing to contribute.
“During the World Cup campaign, we could have afforded to pay a bit more for coach Yorke. We know and everyone knows that during that period of final qualification, sponsors are more on board. We know the culture of sponsors in T&T, it’s one that we are hoping to change over the next couple of years, but the sponsors were on for the World Cup campaign so we could afford to do it.”
However, once the campaign ended, the federation sought to restructure the financial arrangement to ensure long-term sustainability.
“Ensuring that the programme was sustainable, we had discussions with coach Yorke to look at revising his salary and the salary of his coaching staff and we couldn’t reach that conclusion in terms of keeping him on,” Edwards said.
“We would have given him some offers, we would have countered, we would have given him some offers, and he would have countered and the numbers just weren’t adding up in terms of the sustainability of the programme.”
Outstanding payments to be settled
Edwards also addressed the financial obligations still owed to the former coach.
He confirmed that Yorke’s coaching staff had already been terminated in December and were fully paid at that time. Yorke himself, however, remains owed approximately US$158,000 in salary and bonuses.
According to Edwards, the TTFA is committed to settling the outstanding payments in the near future as the organization continues its effort to stabilize its finances.
The situation underscores the delicate balance the federation now faces, maintaining competitive football programs while ensuring the financial stability needed to avoid a return to external oversight.
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