FIFA distances itself from Warner.
By Lasana Liburd (Express).FIFA eyes Simpaul'sFIFA, the world governing body for football, continues to distance itself from the business dealings of its own vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) president Jack Warner after revealing that Simpaul's Travel Company's 2006 World Cup ticket package was improper according to its guidelines.
Simpaul's Travel-which is owned by Warner, his wife, Maureen, and sons, Daryan and Darryl-is offering a World Cup package including match tickets but exclusive of airfare for $30,000 each. Its advertisement reads "Ticket or leave it".
However, FIFA press officer John Schumacher said that Simpaul's package might be improper according to laws governing ticket issued to Participating Member Associations (PMA) like Trinidad and Tobago.
"Packaging tickets with other services is not permitted," said Schumacher, via e-mail.
This is addressed in Article 3.7 of Exhibit B (FIFA Regulations relating to Tickets) of the Participating Member Association (PMA) Ticketing Allocation Agreement (TAA), which states:
"Tickets may not be sold as a part of a package, or made available on the condition that other product(s) and/or service(s), including without limitation, catering, accommodation and/or transportation, are also purchased."
Schumacher explained that newly appointed auditors, Ernst & Young, would investigate to ensure "transparency and correctness in all aspects of FIFA World Cup ticketing".
"It would be premature to speculate as to any disciplinary actions concerned with breaches of the TAAs," wrote Schumacher, "as we in the Media Department are not in a position to pre-judge something that would be a matter for the relevant body to decide upon, after careful consideration of all the facts."
The FIFA Media Department refuted the claim by Warner that the T&TFF did know how many tickets they were allocated for local fans wishing to attend matches at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"At this point in time, no one in T&T really knows, except perhaps a creature called Liburd who in T&T will get World Cup tickets, what quantity they will receive or the criteria which will be used in the determination of ticket allocation," Warner said at a press conference on January 3, 2006.
FIFA insisted that the T&TFF have known otherwise for the past three months.
"The Participating Member Associations (PMAs) received the Ticketing Allocation Agreement (TAA) in November 2005," wrote Schumacher.
Andreas Herren, the head of FIFA's media department, also denied the assertion by T&TFF press officer Shaun Fuentes that I was blacklisted by FIFA or that the international body played any role in denying accreditation.
"We've been advised by FIFA that (Liburd) would not be accredited to FIFA tournaments," Fuentes told the Express on Thursday. "Apparently he's in their black book, I can't say for sure."
Herren admitted that English writer Andrew Jennings was declared "persona non grata" after "various allegations levelled at FIFA and its President". But he insisted that FIFA has not made any such decision as regarding any other writer.
"Please note that FIFA does not have a black book nor ever had one," said Herren, via e-mail. "One journalist (Andrew Jennings whom as I understand you know) was declared persona non grata for FIFA events a few years ago...Otherwise, all journalists and photographers are eligible to apply for accreditation in accordance with the procedures...
"FIFA does not at all make the call to which journalist/photographer the accreditations are allotted nor do we issue any advice in this respect to the associations."
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FIFA eyes Simpaul's - World Cup ticket mystery intensifies.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).A minor adjustment on the website of Simpaul's Travel has raised eyebrows internationally as FIFA acknowledged the issue regarding Trinidad and Tobago's distribution of 2006 World Cup tickets earlier this week.
Simpaul's website now states that "match tickets are not included" in its $30,000 2006 World Cup package and must be sourced "directly from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation or via the FIFA website". The price of the travel company's package was also reduced to $27,000.
The change came after FIFA announced the appointment of Ernst & Young as "independent external auditors to monitor and evaluate the overall ticketing project for the 2006 World Cup". The decision from the world governing body, on January 13, came ten days after Warner's public response to the three part series published in the Express on December 25, 26 and 27, which highlighted an apparent lack of transparency within the T&TFF concerning its sale of tickets and its relationship with special adviser and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the owner of Simpaul's Travel.
The auditing firm's remit includes a whole range of technical and ethical issues, which, while not illegal, contravenes the spirit of FIFA's anti-profiteering message on tickets.
However, the Express contacted Simpaul's Travel on Tuesday and was told that the $30,000 package remained and they still possessed World Cup tickets. When asked to explain the change on their website, a sales representative suggested that Simpaul's had sold out its "internet quota".
It is uncertain whether FIFA, who were initially pleased with Simpaul's updated website, would be satisfied with this explanation.
England's Independent newspaper enquired from FIFA press officer John Schumacher as to whether Simpaul's Travel might be a case study for Ernst & Young and was told to take another look at the company's website.
The Independent was one of dozens of international media houses which include Fox Sports World, the Los Angeles Times, the Berliner Zeitung, England's Daily Mail, CNN, Sports Illustrated and India's Statesman to seize upon the Trinidad Express' three part series highlighting an apparent lack of transparency within the T&TFF concerning its sale of tickets and its relationship with Warner.
Independent writer Nick Harris confirmed, as did the Express, that Simpaul's website was misleading since it was still in the business of selling World Cup tickets as part of a package deal.
Company sales executive Natasha Simmons was quoted in the Independent as confirming that the company's package remained unaltered. When contacted by the Express, though, Simmons said she was not authorised to speak on the matter. Project coordinator Gerald Baptiste could not be reached for comment.
The mystery surrounding the supplier of Simpaul's tickets can potentially lead to a further scandal.
Warner initially told a local press gathering on December 14, 2005, that Simpaul's was the only guaranteed seller of World Cup tickets and had paid $500,000 for this right. The Express calculated, conservatively, that Simpaul could rake in upwards of $50 million on ticket sales. The Independent insisted that Warner's family company would make at least double that amount.
On January 3, Warner changed his tune and claimed that Simpaul's tickets were acquired through an unnamed European tour operator and the T&TFF were still to receive their ticket allocation.
FIFA's website did not suggest how this was possible from a legal and ethical standpoint.
According to FIFA, the "only potential source for general public tickets" was the 2006 FIFA World Cup Ticketing Centre (FWCTC) and the various member associations like the T&TFF. Member associations who are unable to distribute their quota of tickets are instructed to return them to FIFA rather than sell them on to private companies. Corporate sponsors are also bound by FIFA guidelines as regards tickets received for promotional competitions.
Warner further claimed, on January 3, that Simpaul's Travel "has been the official tour operator for the T&TFF since the 1994 World Cup Final". It is uncertain whether Ernst & Young might also be asked to look into those claims.
T&TFF president Oliver Camps, who claimed to be gagged from talking to the press and pleaded ignorance of Warner's involvement with Simpaul's last month, has again refused comment.
"I have nothing to say about the World Cup tickets," said Camps, on Tuesday. "You can use whatever statement was issued in the past. I have nothing to say at this point."
However, a T&TFF clerk explained that the local body stopped taking requests for tickets from the public last week. The clerk, who claimed to be unaware of how many tickets were available, suggested that the Express call back next week for a possible update.
The FIFA website stated that "each Member Association is entitled to commence ticket sales immediately upon confirmation of its qualification for the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany".
Trinidad and Tobago booked a place in the 2006 World Cup finals on November 16, 2005.
FIFA blanks Liburd - After football ticket expose.
By: Gregory Lal-Beharie (Express).[/size]
Sports writer Lasana Liburd who put FIFA vice- president Jack Warner on the spot has been denied accreditation for the World Cup finals by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF).
Liburd has written a three-part series that exposed Warner's ownership of the Simpaul Travel Agency which has been granted exclusive rights to Trinidad and Tobago's quota of World Cup tickets.
In a letter to the Express Newspapers dated January 10, T&TFF media officer David Lamy advised that another Express reporter and a photographer had been duly accredited but was silent on the request made for Liburd by Editor-at-Large Keith Smith.
Liburd's articles on December 25, 26 and 27 queried the conflict of interest between the Warner family's ownership of Simpaul and its resulting control of high-priced World Cup packages.
The T&TFF's non-accreditation of Liburd means he will be denied access to the media box at the World Cup and access to training sessions for the team at the match venue. He would also not be able to attend post-match media conferences.
T&TFF communications officer Shaun Fuentes said they were limited to recommending 21 reporters and five photographers from the country for accreditation.
"We had to give preference for those who we know have been true supporters of the football team throughout the campaign before anyone else who is now requesting accreditation", was his explanation.
Fuentes however suggested that Liburd was suffering the wrath of FIFA: "We've been advised by FIFA that he would not be accredited to FIFA tournaments. Apparently he's in their black book, I can't say for sure."
Lamy who signed the correspondence to the Express refused comment on Liburd's accreditation denial.
"I don't have to tell you that. That's internal. That's Mr Warner's business. Anything like that you ask him. I have to report to him, not to you or anybody else."
Attempts to contact Warner were unsuccessful and a letter from Smith to Mr Lamy requesting a reason for Liburd' shut-out has so far gone unanswered.
In a World Cup Year, There Must Be a Scandal Somewhere.
By Grahame L. Jones, Times Staff.[/size]
Corruption, thy name is FIFA.When it comes to scandal, soccer's world governing body leaves the International Olympic Committee looking like a choirboy, as pure as the driven snow that piles up at this time of year around FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
World Cup years are worse than others because the quadrennial tournament, apart from being a huge sporting event, is a financial cash cow of immensely bloated proportions. Opportunities abound for the greedy, the unscrupulous, and the unethical.
Not surprisingly in the Joseph "Sepp" Blatter era, FIFA's "for the good of the game" leadership jumps at the chance.
It was only last month that Urs Linsi, FIFA's general secretary, said in Leipzig, Germany, that the 2006 World Cup would generate $1.7 billion — most of it from television and sponsors — and would be the most profitable in history.
It comes as no great shock, therefore, that the stench of cronyism and conflict of interest is rising from several locales, not least of them Port of Spain, Trinidad, as the scramble for World Cup tickets intensifies.
In Port of Spain, Jack Warner, a FIFA vice president, president of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region and a "special advisor" to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), is up to his neck fending off accusations of questionable ethics.
Again. Just as he had to do in 2001.
A three-part investigative series by journalist Lasana Liburd of the Trinidad Express has revealed that Warner and his family own a company, Simpaul Travel Services Limited, that bought Trinidad and Tobago's entire allocation of World Cup tickets from the country's soccer federation.
Simpaul, the Express wrote, stands to make millions of dollars, not off individual ticket sales but rather by selling packages that include accommodations and tickets for all three of Trinidad and Tobago's three first-round matches, against Sweden, England and Paraguay. At prices far above what might be expected.
"Soca Warrior" fans have no choice. It's the package or nothing.
Tickets that FIFA priced at $360 and $214 are being sold, by Simpaul, for $4,875, Liburd wrote "with the addition of lodging for 12 days in Germany and a national flag, replica shirt and wristband" but "exclusive of airfare and ground transport."
Depending on how many tickets they have — no one will reveal the number — "the Warners could be $50 million [U.S. $8 million] richer from ticket sales alone," Liburd calculated.
When the Express asked "whether it was ethical for the country's ticket allocation to be diverted to Warner's private company," neither Oliver Camps, the TTFF president, nor Warner would comment, the newspaper said.
"Do you know who the owner of Simpaul is?" it quoted Camps as saying. "Let us not go there."
Warner, meanwhile, was even more dismissive.
"You write what you want to write," he told Liburd. "I have nothing to discuss with you."
Once the series was published, however, and once the Trinidad and Tobago government had threatened to step in and sort matters out, Warner, his ego flaring, was much more forthcoming.
"It is not a crime to be successful, even for people like me," he said, pompous as ever, adding that no one should "attempt to impute improper business practices and conflicts of interest to me."
The Express series, he claimed, was "part of a well-timed, carefully orchestrated character assassination, designed to devalue any political currency which opponents ... feel I might have been developing as a result of the Soca Warriors' World Cup qualification alongside my own efforts within the United National Congress to unify the party and country."
In the same Jan. 3 news conference, Warner said he believed "the intention of the articles is to change the reference point of Jack Warner in the minds of the public, or more importantly, the electorate. It was designed to sully the Warner name and to reframe the recent achievements I have yearned and struggled for over many years in the football arena."
Aside from being a grammatical shambles, such comments are not only self-serving but absurd.
In Warner's eyes, it's all a conspiracy designed to thwart his political ambitions, not a matter of ethics at all. Why shouldn't a FIFA vice president snap up all his country's World Cup tickets and make a financial killing?
With soccer fans in Trinidad and Tobago up in arms over what they perceive as unfair practices and price gouging, Patrick Manning, the country's prime minister, was forced to step in.
Sports minister Roger Boynes said the government would try to buy tickets from the federation — even though no more supposedly are available — and would arrange charter flights for fans on the national airline.
Such is the arrogance of FIFA's leaders that Warner brushed this aside.
"No government in the world can intervene in FIFA's business," he said, "and that's the bottom line. Mr. Manning represents the government of Trinidad and Tobago. FIFA doesn't deal with governments."
As the Express pointed out, this is not the first time that Warner has enriched himself off a FIFA event.
"Warner similarly cashed in," it said, when Trinidad and Tobago played host to the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championship. "Then, his companies controlled exclusive contracts to supply air tickets to all competing foreign teams as well as catering and IT [communication] deals for all the stadiums."
This is the man who presides over CONCACAF, the 38-member regional soccer confederation of which the United States, Canada and Mexico are a part.
As long as Warner can deliver CONCACAF's votes to his good pal Blatter, FIFA's equally insufferable president, no one in Zurich is going to question the way he is lining his pockets.
Meanwhile, have U.S. Soccer, Soccer Canada or the Mexican Football Federation, the region's supposed powers and presumptive molar leaders, ever raised a squawk about the ethics or lack thereof within CONCACAF?
Have the American companies — Anheuser Busch, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Mastercard, McDonald's — that give tens of millions of sponsorship dollars to FIFA ever questioned how that money is being used or misused? Not a chance.
They just go along with it all.
If soccer itself can't or won't clean up its act, if governments supposedly are powerless to intervene, then perhaps the way to accomplish change is through the sponsors.
Money is all that matters to FIFA's elect, so if fans can turn off the financial tap by boycotting or at least pressuring FIFA's sponsors, soccer might eventually be able to rid itself of those who currently infest its highest reaches. For the real good of the game.