PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – CONCACAF strongman Jack Warner has said next month’s FIFA elections should be decided on the strength of policies and not personality.
He was speaking ahead of Mohammed Bin Hammam’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday to address CONCACAF’s membership.
Bim Hammam, the Asian football chief, is challenging the incumbent Sepp Blatter in the June 1 poll in Zurich.
“No one in CONCACAF has expressed displeasure over Mr Blatter’s tenure but in the interest of fair play and democracy I cannot deny my membership the opportunity to hear all sides of this campaign,” said Warner.
“An election is not a popularity contest and as the world still grapples with shifting economic realities we must ensure that our sport is in a position to withstand any uncertainty.”
Warner, who was last week confirmed for a sixth term as CONCACAF president after being nominated unopposed, said the developmental policies of both candidates needed to be scrutinized.
“One must examine all that is proposed; how do you expand football? How do you continue to touch the lives of those who have been denied the opportunity to witness the beauty and simplicity of this game?” Warner, also a powerful FIFA vice-president, pointed out.
CONCACAF, the continental governing body for football in North, Central America and the Caribbean, is an important voting bloc in FIFA with 35 votes.
Blatter lobbied CONCACAF at the Congress in Miami last week but Bin Hammam was unable to attend after failing to secure a United States visa.
However, Warner subsequently invited Bin Hammam to present his case in T&T in order to “hear both sides”.
Bin Hammam is expected to make a two-hour presentation to over 80 CONCACAF delegates at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
After both presentations are considered, CONCACAF are expected to announce who they will back for the FIFA presidency.