National Football players finally get paid
Today it was all smiles for members of the Belize National Football team as finally they collected handsome payments for gate receipts of games played against Mexico in the FIFA qualifying match at Houston’s Reliant Stadium and the Estadio Universitario of Monterrey, Mexico. For several weeks the players were locked in a squabble with Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President of Belize’s Football Federation for the delay in payments. News Five caught up with the happy players as they cashed their cheques.
Deon McCauley, National Football Team
“I feel good that I finally get mi money after so long, so I noh really got nothing fi complain bout right now.”
Marion Ali
“Yesterday you guys were pretty upset. What changed between yesterday and today?”
Deon McCauley
“Yesterday we come and the bank tell we that no money noh deh. Today we come and everything gone through easy and we get wi money. If we never talk yesterday maybe we noh mi wah get wi money today.”
Marion Ali
“Does this discourage you all from representing Belize in a similar fashion in the future?”
Deon McCauley
“No because we go out deh wid fi we heart and soul. We noh go out deh fi money. We work hard and sometimes yoh need wah lee reinforcement fi seh ok, yoh work hard, yoh wah get paid fi it check? But I feel that they noh wah discourage me because I wah stay di play football. Dat dah my life, dat dah weh I do and I wah always di play football.”
Ian Gaynair, National Football Team
“Actually, me and Mr. Chimilio talk todeh and Mr. Chimilio seh he noh really mad at the fact dat I went and talk because me and Mr. Chimilio have wah close relationship. He tell me weh I do neva really right but still he seh he no mad at me because he seh I dah wah young player and I learn by my mistakes dehn.”
Marion Ali
“And in terms of mistakes I’m sure you guys, in retrospect, you have conducted the autopsy on your performance and you will agree that you’ve made quite few of them on the field, especially the last game right?”
Ian Gaynair,
“I feel like the first game we did well but the second game, I noh pleased with myself nor my players.”
Marion Ali
“What would you want to improve upon?”
Ian Gaynair
“I think we need fi start dis thing over. We need fi start from the management, coaches, staff and players. We see the level Mexico deh at and we way below them so we need to get the right equipment, the right people to guide us and maybe next time, four years time from now we’ll do much better.”
The players took home a total of nine thousand dollars each, the same amount they were promised for representing Belize at the games.
