England get boost from Warner
Saturday, February 9th 2008 EXPRESS
England have received a major boost to their chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup after FIFA vice-president Jack Warner hailed the English Football Association (FA) as the most-respected in the world.
Warner's latest remarks also open the way to a friendly between England and Trinidad and Tobago on June 1 in Trinidad.
The FA had wanted Warner, also head of the Caribbean Football Union, to redress comments he made last year about England being "an irritant" to Europe and having had no impact in world football.
Warner now says while European football figures do denigrate England, in the rest of the world the FA's international development work has reaped huge dividends.
He also claims that without his active support, former FA chairman Geoff Thompson would not have been elected as a fellow FIFA vice-president.
On their side, the FA are keen to hold the friendly in Trinidad on June 1 as Warner, president of CONCACAF, is a very important FIFA figure in terms of the 2018 World Cup bid.
The match would also be part of the centenary celebrations of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) and would fit in with England manager Fabio Capello's plans.
"I am certain that nobody of relevance within the FA believes that Jack Warner is England's enemy. The opposite is true," Warner said yesterday.
"What I did say in a BBC radio interview last year was nothing but the reproduction of opinions and background whispers offered by false friends in Europe."Numerous European football grandees have often made derogatory remarks about England in the past. What I did was merely to state them and share them with the public at large.
"Unfortunately, it was subsequently construed to be 'Jack Warner's opinion', simply because it was I who had voiced what others--behind England's back-- were and are saying in Europe.
"I emphasise 'Europe' because the FA, under Geoff Thompson's leadership, and ever since [the failed bid for the World Cup in] 2006 has changed course in international terms and stepped up its international development programme to a level unmatched by any other FA in the world.
"The FA is probably the most respected football association in Europe in the eyes of virtually all countries within CONCACAF, Asia, Africa and South America."
Warner is a vital figure in terms of the 2018 campaign-he directly controls three of the 24 FIFA executive committee votes and has a strong influence over four more. He is also a strong backer of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Warner was also instrumental in securing Thompson the seat as Britain's FIFA vice-president. Scottish FA president John McBeth was about to take the post last May, only to be forced to withdraw after suggesting African and Caribbean associations were tainted by corruption and greed. Warner added: "To assume that I had a personal grudge against England is incorrect. Frankly, without my active support, there still would not be an Englishman in FIFA's executive committee today. I encouraged Geoff to take on the responsibility of FIFA vice-president after that deplorable Scot McBeth lashed out against virtually anything non-British in a reprehensible way.
"One must not forget that for decades, there was no Englishman in any body of relevance at UEFA or FIFA levels. For 17 years, your Home Countries were represented by a Scot, and only when Geoff Thompson with his quiet yet professional and dedicated ways offered to play an active role, UEFA and later FIFA accepted an Englishman in their most senior ranks."
Warner said a friendly with England would be "fabulous".
"The T&TFF, having been formed by English settlers in 1908, has come a long way since then.
"If England were to play our twin-island nation's team to celebrate 100 years of football history, it would be a fabulous sign of recognition and a sound continuation of a positive experience that was actively built by the FA over the past few years.
"Therefore, and when the timing is appropriate, I will be happy to outline the fine achievements of the FA in international development, with or without a game being played between our countries in honour of our 100-year birthday."
