World Cup ticket sales – the tale of the tape

As affiliates of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) prepare to get to the bottom of some of the contentious issues plaguing the organization, SEARCHLIGHT has gone into its archives and republishes excerpts of articles on the “Sale of World Cup tickets”.

Sale of World Cup tickets was above board – Coombs

June 17, 2014

The sale of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ quota of tickets to this year’s Football World Cup, currently taking place in Brazil, was done above board.

And according to president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Venold Coombs, “there was no hanky-panky.”

“We got the tickets; in fact we got just over 200, less than the 250 which were allocated to us… We sold them to another buyer and this money came in very handy….We are using the money to send the Under-20 team to Cuba for the qualifiers later this month,” Coombs told SEARCHLIGHT, when quizzed on the issue recently.

He confirmed as well that it was only a percentage of the ticket sales that ended up in the coffers of the SVGFF.

“There is nothing wrong about doing that; it was done above board…That is a normal practice by countries like us…People here don’t buy the tickets. … It is only one guy who works at the port, who came one day and inquired at the office, but he never came back,” Coombs stated.

The local football boss reiterated that such accusations of underhand dealings could only come from “mischief makers who want to tarnish the good name of football in St Vincent and the Grenadines.”

Coombs to take legal action against suspended General Secretary

August 25, 2015

Venold Coombs – president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation – plans to take action against suspended general secretary Trevor Huggins.

Coombs, who was guest of Nice Radio’s Sports Highlights last Sunday night, made it clear that his promised actions against Huggins are for comments he made about sale of World Cup tickets on another interactive radio call in programme.

“He will talk to my lawyer”, Coombs said.

Meanwhile, Coombs, who could be heard ruffling some papers while he was on air, stated that he had brought the documents to show as proof to the host, Justin Douglas.

“The ninety something thousand came timely for the Under-20 to go (to) Cuba … The down payment was timely to go (to) Dominica…. Every cent that was cent for football was used for football … At no time I was solo … The executive was updated all along about this thing”, Coombs stated with some of his usual gusto.

Boucher still questioning the sale of World Cup tickets

September 15, 2015

Third vice-president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Elroy Paul Boucher is not relenting in getting answers to the sale of the organization’s quota of tickets for the 2014 World Cup finals, held in Brazil.

Boucher, who was a guest on Nice Radio’s calling programme Sports Highlights recently, in citing some of the questionable operations of the SVGFF, zoned in on the sale of the said tickets.

Supporting documents revealed that Raymond Trimmingham, acting on behalf of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, signed on June 8, 2014, to have received 200 tickets.

Other supporting documents showed that on the same date, Aaron Isley of Universal detailed procedural undertakings thereafter, in accordance with the Isley Coombs agreement of February 16, 2014.

Auditors unable to satisfy themselves about World Cup tickets sales

November 20, 2015

Internal control deficiencies at the secretariat of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) have resulted in the auditing firm of KDLT being unable to satisfy itself in relation to the sales of FIFA World Cup tickets in June 2014.

This is according to the audited financial statements of the SVGFF for the year ended December 31, 2014, which were made available to SEARCHLIGHT.

“As a result of internal control deficiencies, we were unable to satisfy ourselves as to the sales of FIFA World Cup tickets reflected in note 3 in the amount of $241,623… We were therefore unable to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to the statement of comprehensive income and fund balance as of December 31, 2014 and cash flows for the year then ended.”

Additionally, the audit noted: “In the year under review, we were unable to determine and to verify sales of FIFA World Cup tickets in the sum of $241,623, as reflected in note 15 to the Financial Statements, and as a result, we were also unable to verify profit of $118,273 on sale of these tickets.”

FIFA regulations say that World Cup tickets must not be sold for more than a 10 per cent mark-up. The issue of the World Cup ticket sales and their proceeds was first raised by the media in June 2014.

Affiliates put World Cup ticket sales uncertainty to rest

November 24, 2015

The majority of the 48 affiliates at last Saturday’s Annual General Meeting of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation want no further investigation of the sale of the World Cup tickets last year.

When a vote was taken for further findings, possibly a forensic audit to be done on the issue, there were more nays of affiliates, who wanted the matter to be laid to rest.

Kirk Da Silva, representing the audit firm of KDLT, reiterated that sufficient documentation was not provided by his client, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF), as to the sale of the tickets.

Records show that Raymond Trimmingham, acting on behalf of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation, signed on June 8, 2014, to have received 200 tickets.

However at last Saturday’s meeting, president of the SVGFF – Venold Coombs, while holding some documents in his hand, said, “Members, this is from FIFA, 184 tickets, US$42,075; the amount came, the equivalent EC upon value.”