T&T gov't mum on FIFA's Jack Warner probeJamaica ObserverSaturday, May 28, 2011 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad and Tobago government will await the outcome of a probe by the International Football Federation (FIFA) before it decides on any action against one of its senior ministers, Austin Jack Warner, who is facing bribery allegations in his capacity as a FIFA vice president.
“It would be unfair to Minister Warner for us to make any sort of pronouncement against him adverse to his character,” said attorney general Anand Ramlogan, adding “if however there is any findings adverse to Minister Warner that impeaches or impugns his integrity that is a different matter because that may very well be a matter for the Prime Minister in her capacity as leader of the government.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/T-T-gov-t-mum-on-FIFA-s-Jack-Warner-probeFILE - In this May 10, 2011 file picture Mohamed bin Hammam, right, of Qatar, chief of the Asian Football Confederation, is accompanied by FIFA Vice President Austin Jack Warner, of Trinidad & Tobago, during a meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. FIFA is investigating allegations of bribery involving presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam and FIFA vice president Jack Warner. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur,File)
FILE - In this May 10, 2011 file picture Mohamed bin Hammam, right, of Qatar, chief of the Asian Football Confederation, is accompanied by FIFA Vice President Austin Jack Warner, of Trinidad & Tobago, during a meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. FIFA is investigating allegations of bribery involving presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam and FIFA vice president Jack Warner. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur,File) 1/1
“But we will cross that bridge if and when it comes to it,” he said, reminding reporters Warner has not been proven to have committed any sin as yet.
‘It is an allegation…FIFA is not run by the government and it is not part of the government so it will be premature for us as a government to make any pronouncement adverse to Mr Warner in a matter that we know nothing about,” he added.
But Warner told reporters yesterday that he was not afraid of the allegations made against and predicts a “football tsunami" over the coming days.
Warner is to appear before the FIFA’s ethics committee tomorrow to answer allegations of bribery tomorrow. He is accused, along with FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam, of offering bribes to members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) at a meeting here in exchange for votes in the FIFA presidential elections on Wednesday.
"I tell you something, in the next couple days you will see a football tsunami that will hit FIFA and the world that will shock you. ... The time has come when I must stop playing dead so you'll see it, it’s coming, trust me you'll see it by now and Monday," said Warner.
"I have been here for 29 consecutive years and if the worst happen, the worst happen," he told reporters during a break during the meeting of the Parliament.
Warner, who is also the Minister of Works and Transport, said he was prepared to walk away from FIFA.
"If that is what it comes to so be it, you must never get too attached to anything, it clouds your judgment and therefore whatever happens, happens, que sera sera. I am not even remotely bothered. I had planned to leave Saturday morning in any case because I have meetings on Sunday afternoon. ... They can do what they want, it doesn't bother me".
He told reporters he was also not afraid of anyone going into the meeting.
“I have lived three score and almost ten and my Jack hasn't been hanged as yet, why should it be hung now? By whom? The American Chuck Blazer? His American lawyer John Collins? Give me a break. I am not the faint-hearted you know ... Let them go ahead, I have no problem with that. But I'll tell you something, I will hold my head high to the very end because, I repeat here again, I am not guilty of a single iota of wrongdoing."
Warner also faces another probe into allegations of unethical behaviour in a British lawmakers' hearing this month.
The former head of England's failed 2018 World Cup bid, Lord David Triesman, has alleged Warner asked for money to build an education centre and buy 2010 World Cup broadcast rights for Haiti.
An e-mail from Warner to Triesman in February 2010 was released by the BBC where Warner urged the FA to contribute towards the cost of purchasing the rights to show World Cup matches on giant screens in Haiti.
Warner said all these attacks and allegations against him were driven by envy.
"I am in FIFA for 29 consecutive years, I was the first black man to have ever been in FIFA at this level. I have come from the smallest country ever to be on the FIFA executive committee. There is no country smaller than Trinidad and Tobago on FIFA's executive committee. I am wielding more power in FIFA now than sometimes even the president, I must be the envy of others.
"In terms of football history my country does not even have one and therefore there are people out there who would ask why should I be there and what is my role, so I become the butt of all kinds of attacks and I accept this without any kind of anger because I understand people, this is the nature of human beings," he added.
Warner said both England and the United States were upset with him because they did not win the bid to host the World Cups.
"The US is accusing me of not working hard enough for them. What more you want me to do, go in the people house and sleep with them? I can't do that! I did for the US all I could have done..
"This is an election time in FIFA, it happens every time ... especially when there is a contender," Warner said, noting that the last time FIFA President Sepp Blatter had a contender was in 2002 and then too, there was heated controversy.
"FIFA politics is far bigger than the politics you have seen here. It makes our politics here look like child's play. Now at the end of the day, if even the worst happens, I'm still president of CONCACAF," he added.
