News

Jada Loutoo

Yesterday

Peter Miller, former TTFA marketing director. –

A High Court judge is expected to deliver a ruling on February 26 in a claim brought by former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) marketing director Peter Miller, who is seeking payment for sums he says are owed to him during the period the association was under a debt repayment proposal.

Justice Frank Seepersad reserved his decision after hearing evidence on January 27 at the Waterfront Judicial Centre, Port of Spain. He also invited supplemental written submissions on whether Miller continued to perform his contractual duties after March 2020.

Miller was hired on January 1, 2020, on a two-year contract at a salary of US$25,000 per month. His contract also provided for a payment of US$30,410.95 for services rendered “since on or about November 25, 2019.” He testified virtually at the trial and was cross-examined by Kerwyn Garcia, SC, who represents the TTFA’s trustee, Maria Daniel, a chartered financial analyst and partner at Ernst and Young Trinidad Ltd, who is named as the defendant in the lawsuit.

At the centre of the dispute is the trustee’s decision to disallow part of Miller’s claim on the basis that he stopped performing services after March 2020, shortly before FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to run the TTFA. Miller rejected that position, maintaining that he continued to work despite the association’s financial difficulties and was therefore entitled to be paid.

Under questioning, Miller was taken through statements in affidavits filed in support of his claim, in which he asserted that full particulars of sponsorship deals and relationships he initiated were set out in his statement of case. Garcia suggested that the statement of case did not, in fact, contain full details or documentary proof of those arrangements.

Miller agreed that by February 17, 2020, several initiatives outlined in a February 2020 brief from then TTFA president William Wallace had been completed, including the securing of kit deals, the completion of a new TTFA website and the identification of broadcast rights partners. Other initiatives, such as securing international sponsors and reconnecting with local fans to boost match attendance, were said to be ongoing or in planning stages at that time.

He acknowledged that no sponsorship contracts were exhibited in his statement of case and that it did not specifically refer to contracts or e-mails with companies he alleged he had secured deals with, including companies in Switzerland and India. He also claimed to have secured agreements with football clubs in the United Kingdom and Brazil for international friendlies, as well as other partnerships and revenue opportunities, but accepted that these were not supported by documentation before the court.

Miller was questioned about an email exchange with Manchester City in March 2020 concerning a proposed tour fixture with the national team, and correspondence with a Scottish club regarding a visit that ultimately did not materialise due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent closure of borders for the women’s team.

Garcia suggested that Miller had provided no documentary proof that he performed services after March 2020. Miller responded that he continued working, remained in contact with sponsors and officials, and was even willing to accept a reduced sum to remain with the TTFA. He also disputed the suggestion that he stopped working in March 2021, noting that he had been paid only for the period January to March 2020 and for agreed sums outside that period.

Former national coach Terry Fenwick was also called as a witness.

In her testimony, Daniel, who was appointed on November 8, 2021, to manage the TTFA’s debt proposal process under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, said her sole mandate was to assess the association’s financial health and determine whether it could be rehabilitated or should be wound up.

She said she became aware of Miller’s contract sometime in 2021. Daniel said she disallowed Miller’s claim beyond March 2020, because she was advised that Miller did not work after that date.

While she acknowledged seeing some e-mail correspondence suggesting Miller may have continued communicating with sponsors after March 2020, she said she did not raise those emails with the chairman of the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, Robert Hadad and maintained that there was a basis for her conclusion. She also said she had not seen any letter formally terminating Miller’s services and saw no documentation that the TTFA did not expressly tell him to stop working.

During questioning, Daniel accepted that keeping sponsors informed could reasonably fall within the duties of a marketing director, but said she lacked sufficient context to determine whether such communications amounted to ongoing work in Miller’s case. She maintained that her role required her to verify that actual work was done before allowing any claim.

Hadad also testified, saying part of his job was to verify who worked for the TTFA.

“My position was to hold off until I could verify.”

TTFA’s repayment proposal, which was filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, was unanimously approved by creditors on May 5, 2022. The proposal process was overseen by Daniel as trustee on behalf of FIFA’s appointed normalisation committee and was later sanctioned by the court, following a short delay to consider filings made by Miller and Fenwick.

According to an Ernst and Young report dated April 9, 2021, the TTFA’s total outstanding liabilities and contingent claims were estimated at approximately $98.5 million. The debt proposal was designed to provide a stay of legal proceedings while allowing the association to continue its operations and work toward financial rehabilitation.

Daniel’s original proposal was enhanced with an increase of US$500,000 to US$3.5 million, the TTFA said at the time.

Justice Seepersad indicated that his ruling on Miller’s claim would turn largely on whether the evidence supports his assertion that he continued to perform his contractual duties after March 2020.

Attorneys Brunnock Reid and Kiev Chesney represented Miller.