“The competition has started, while there are transfers that still have to be settled. A number of cases have been reported to the dispute committee according to procedure (now Player Status Committee, … ed.) who just doesn’t make a statement. I’m told there are also old cases from the previous season. Players cannot therefore be deployed and we are currently – and actually since last season – also the victims of this improper management.” These are the words of Forward coach Werner Blackson, who expressed his concerns the True Time with regard to cases that have been with the Surinamese Football Association (SVB) for months.
Text Desney Romeo
Image FB Suriname Major League
Rolf Verwey, chairman of the Suriname Major League (SML), asked for a response, believes that from the start everything runs through the SML to the Player Status committee. “Reminders have been sent to the committee several times. We have had access to documentation, including one case dating back to March 5, 2026,” he says. the True Time for.
“This puts an unnecessary blemish on the whole, because you are holding back several parties”
SML chairman Rolf Verwey
According to him, that case concerns the player Natanael Tavares, who is said to be in a dispute with Notch. Another case – this has been going on since April 13, says Verwey – is that of Alvaro Verwey. This footballer wants to make the switch from Transvaal to Forward. “But this case is also still ‘pending’.”
Conflict of interest
The Player Status committee includes SVB chairman Dayasankar Mathoera and board members Roy Samuels and Wendy Derveld. In response to what Blackson and Verwey said, Mathoera counters the True Time that the problem lies with the clubs. “They are demanding amounts that the clubs that were interested in the players did not want to pay. The SVB and the committee are not going to interfere in this, as it concerns free transfers,” Mathoera makes clear.
There are rumors of a conflict of interest about the chairman. Apart from running the SVB as a parent organization and leading the Player Status committee, Mathoera also appears to be in charge of ‘Players Transfers’ via the Fifa portal, meaning that all transfers must be handled by him.
Faced with the indication that the functions are incompatible, the ‘jack of all trades’ states that no one wants to do the job. He indicates that he will stop ‘Players Transfers’ in December. Verwey thinks it is a shame that only one person is in charge of transfers. He believes that in Jamaica, for example, sixty people have access to the system.
Unnecessary slur
At the same time, the SML chairman is also looking at the clubs, as only two have their affairs in order. In his view, ‘problems’ should not linger for more than a week. “In my eyes, you are holding players and clubs hostage. For us it is a hot issue and we have sent dozens of reminders. If this is brought to Fifa, people will have a problem.”
Verwey maintains that the SML is not to blame. “We struggle with it and every time we send a reminder: ‘Guys, we need the statusbecause we also have to tell our clubs what the status is’. I have a neat overview, including the days on which a reminder was sent. So it’s not our fault. I think this is terrible.”
The SML chairman states that there are now nine players who cannot play. “And the oldest case is 224 days,” he reveals. “I don’t think the men have time for this. As a main board member you cannot also be TMS manager, Player Status Committee… it doesn’t work. This puts an unnecessary stain on the whole, because you are keeping several parties behind,” is Verwey’s harsh criticism.
“It is clear that the clubs in question made a mistake with all the consequences that entails”
License manager Brian Soekra
Points deducted
Another matter that concerns people is the decision to deduct three points from three clubs. The SML announced this on Thursday Facebookpage. The points penalty was applied because Leo Victor, Robinhood and Inter Wanica did not pay license fines on time.
Verwey tells the newspaper that the sanction was imposed by the licensing committee. “This is actually outside the SML.” He explains that the points penalty was the last step in the sanction model. “After the fine was not paid, it was increased. After it was not paid again, it ‘escalated’ to the three points deduction.”
According to him, the fine arose because the clubs did not meet a number of requirements from the licensing committee. The SML subsequently received a letter from this body to apply the sanction. Verwey calls it “an omission by the SML” that this was not communicated to the associations before the start of the competition.
‘Clubs at fault’
License manager Brian Soekra moors when requested the True Time explains that there are a number of licensing requirements that clubs must meet when submitting the application. “In some cases, a recovery period is given to correct something that was not completely correct.”
He mentions, among other things, a twelve-month insurance policy. “For example, this expires in October, while the license was submitted in May. The policy can be used normally, but because it expires in October, proof of renewal must be sent to the committee in November. If this does not happen, the club in question will receive another reminder with a warning in December. A fine will be imposed in January if the obligation is not met. The fine can then be increased, until ultimately three points are deducted.”
Soekra states bluntly: “It is clear that the clubs in question made a mistake, with all the consequences that entails. Things have ‘escalated’, as a result of which the clubs have had their points deducted.” He states that the sanction was applied in accordance with the rules. “This is in accordance with the club license regulations, article 14.” The first fine was two thousand US dollars and was subsequently increased to three thousand US dollars.
