Just three weeks before the Cayman Islands women’s national team start their CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign, the squad is missing a few key players as well as their head coach, who was recently fired.
While Cayman Islands Football Association president Alfredo Whittaker did not go into detail on the circumstances surrounding these personnel decisions, he did allude to ‘disrespect’ and ‘poor coaching’.
In the meantime, Whittaker has named Cayman football coach Michael Johnson as the interim head of the women’s team while the search continues for a more permanent solution.
Dion La Foucade, who was hired by CIFA in June, was released from his duties on Monday, 7 Aug. – seven days before his contract expired, according to CIFA.
At the time of his release and just before his three-month work permit expired, La Foucade told the Compass that CIFA’s decision to let him go was disappointing and came as a surprise. La Foucade went on record stating that he was fired without knowing why.
While Whittaker did not deny that he and his staff released the Trinidad native without giving a reason, he did tell the Compass that La Foucade’s work ethic was not appreciated.
“We took a close look of what was going on, with our national team preparation and some other stuff and we were not satisfied,” Whittaker said. “Coach Dion was not fulfilling his obligation as a coach and… we decided that we would not renew [his contract].”
Over those three months, La Foucade only coached three national matches – all friendlies against the University of West Florida in which Cayman dropped every game.
The results raised red flags for Whittaker, who said, “We had concerns about how the team was getting prepared [for the Gold Cup] and, after watching the three friendly matches, the concerns were even higher.”
But for La Foucade, “the accomplishment of great things takes time and also cooperation”.
However, it is unlikely that disappointing results were the sole means for dismissal. Current CIFA men’s coach Claudio Garcia has yet to lead his squad to victory; they last registered a win when they bested the US Virgin Islands 1-0 in 2019 under then coach Ben Pugh.
That said, Whittaker noted that there was another reason for the decision to part ways with La Foucade, but he refused to elaborate.
“At some point I think we failed because [of La Foucade’s] recommendations,” Whittaker said.
The Trinidadian coach boasts over 30 years’ experience in the sport, with employment reference letters from Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Blackburn Rovers FC, but, according to Whittaker, there was an underlying matter they learned about after he was hired.
“We were looking into different resumes… and we decided to go with coach Dion because of what was there, but we failed to go a little bit more in depth,” he said.
He then added, cryptically, “If you have something that is not satisfying, you as a company… have the right not to put your company in that position.”
Players at odds with CIFA
A couple of players opted to step away from national duty following La Foucade’s release, telling the Compass they thought the coach was treated unjustly.
This is not the first time that players have expressed frustrations with CIFA executives. Just over two years ago, after Cayman was trounced by Canada 11-0 in a World Cup qualifier, senior men’s players voiced their concerns about CIFA officials who they said were jeopardising their chances of success on the pitch.
When CIFA held a meeting with the women’s team to announce that their recently hired coach was being released, the news was not well received by captain Shanice Monteith, who has been playing football for Cayman for over 15 years.
Following that meeting, the Compass received a copy of a release letter for Monteith signed by Marcos Tinoco, CIFA’s general secretary, which stated, “due to your breach of the CIFA Code of Conduct for National Players [that] occurred at the Senior Women’s National Team players and staff meeting held at the CIFA Centre For Excellence on Monday, 7 August 2023 (the same day La Foucade was let go), you have been released with immediate effect from any CIFA National Teams’ duties.
“Please be reminded that participation in national programs is by invitation only and you will be considered for future Senior Women’s National Team selections which you will be officially informed [of] in the fullness of time.”
According to several players who asked to remain anonymous, CIFA did not provide a code of conduct for them to sign, so that the association would have no grounds to suspend or release players.
However, Whittaker said those claims were false.
“Every player was given a code of conduct and they signed it, so those players that don’t want to be [named] are obviously lying. I’m telling you right now… that is a lie,” Whittaker said.
And while Monteith’s release letter noted that she would be considered for future national team selections, Whittaker has said that the long-time player could return under the new coach.
The CIFA chief had this message for players having difficulty seeing eye to eye with the association: “You can’t please everyone in this world,” noting that he is satisfied with the way things are.
The Cayman Islands senior women’s national team will play their first match in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in an away fixture against Anguilla on Thursday, 21 Sept., and as it stands, Johnson will lead the team.
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