Another Warner foe falls.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).[/size]
...General Secretary leaves FIFA
FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) special advisor Jack Warner yesterday bid farewell to another possible adversary after the world governing body confirmed the departure of its general secretary, Dr Urs Linsi.
Linsi, who spent five years as FIFA general secretary, was not offered a contract renewal by president Sepp Blatter. He is unlikely to receive sympathy from Warner.
The two high-profile FIFA executive committee members were at odds over the controversial Ernst and Young report regarding Warner’s alleged involvement in the black market sale of World Cup tickets.
“Certain numbers of (World Cup) tickets have been sold for a value four times higher,” Linsi said last September, “but that’s what has to be investigated and found out by looking at the books of the stakeholders.”
Warner, who is also CONCACAF president, countered that Linsi, who arguably held the second highest office in FIFA at the time, had conspired to entrap him and took offence at Linsi’s “hostile tone” and “veiled threats”.
Linsi’s tenure as general secretary lasted less than two weeks after his Swiss compatriot, Blatter, was re-appointed unopposed as FIFA president on May 31. Warner is powerful political ally of Blatter by virtue of the CONCACAF’s 35 votes.
Warner was on the wrong end of several FIFA enquiries over the past 18 months but it does not appear to have diluted his power within the powerful sporting body.
Scotsman John McBeth lost his position as FIFA vice-president even before his first day on the job after he spoke of his intention to tackle corruption, particularly within Africa and the Caribbean, and made unflattering remarks aimed at Blatter—who he called a “tricky customer”—and unnamed FIFA members.
“I know two or three (at Fifa) whom I’d want to count my fingers after shaking hands with them,” he said. “If I come across corruption, I have to expose it. I must try to stay true to my beliefs and hope I don’t get seduced.
“By and large, the four British countries know what fair play is and when we are stepping out of line. But, as soon as you hit Africa, it’s a slightly different kettle of fish. They’re poor nations and want to grab what they can.
“I presume the Caribbean is much the same - they just come at it in a different way.”
Warner, supported by Blatter, immediately called for an enquiry into McBeth’s “racist” remarks.
“I don’t mind what he said about personalities – ‘he is tricky’, or whatever,” said the FIFA president. “But his (other) declarations were discriminatory against people from other continents… I think this is not tolerable.”
Britain subsequently withdrew McBeth’s nomination and replaced him with Englishman Geoff Thompson.
On February 15, 2006, the FIFA Committee for Ethics and Fair Play, chaired by Senes Erzik, came to the unanimous decision that Warner violated its Code of Ethics by the sale of World Cup tickets through his family-owned business, Simpaul Travel—as revealed exclusively by the Trinidad Express Newspaper.
Blatter replaced Erzik and his deputy chairman Mohammed Bin Hammam with Lord Sebastian Coe and Petrus Damaseb, seven months later.
Linsi too became surplus to requirements after his spat with Warner.
“Having now successfully completed his five-year mandate as FIFA General Secretary,” stated a release on the FIFA website, “Dr Urs Linsi has decided to seek new challenges elsewhere.
“FIFA hereby thanks Urs Linsi for his significant achievements in this period, most notably the restructuring of the finances of world football’s governing body and the construction of the Home of FIFA.”
Warner was not a fan of Linsi’s predecessor, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, either. On April 1, 2002, Zen-Ruffinen alleged, in a 21-page dossier, that Blatter wrote off a loan for TT$74 million dollars to CONCACAF and gave Warner another TT$8 million without “appropriate authorisation”.
Zen-Ruffinen further charged that Blatter had taken advantage of the GOAL project to “influence” member federations, especially in the CONCACAF region “where many associations are still persuaded that they will lose any financial support if they do not support the current regime”.
Zen-Ruffinen was quickly replaced by Linsi. Warner will hope for a more harmonious relationship with Dr Markus Kattner who, like Linsi, begins as Acting General Secretary.
The FIFA vice-president is expected to soon turn his attention to 16 Trinidad and Tobago national football players, including record scorer and Sunderland striker Stern John, Southampton forward Kenwyne Jones and respected Dallas FC goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, who threatened to take the T&TFF to court over 2006 World Cup bonuses.
