(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) said on Monday it was regrettable that FIFA has apparently closed the investigation into bribery allegations against Jack Warner, without formally clearing his name.
TTTI has also recommended that in the absence of any public withdrawal of the accusations, an independent investigation be undertaken with the objective of clearing Warner’s name.
“It is important that the Trinidad and Tobago Government not be seen as associated with any form of corruption, whether proven or implied. The Code of Conduct for Ministers and Parliamen-tarians should be reviewed in the light on this matter so that the lessons learned be used to clarify and improve them,” a media release stated yesterday.
TTTI said it was unsatisfactory that the reputation of a senior minister in the Trinidad and Tobago Government has been called into question by accusations reported extensively in the international media, and that investigations have been ended without these accusations having been withdrawn or found false.
“Other investigations still underway into whether any laws of Trinidad and Tobago have been broken should be completed and appropriate action taken to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion,” the release stated.
Warner, the man at the centre of the FIFA bribery scandal, has resigned from all his positions in international football. Warner, the longest-serving member of FIFA’s executive committee, had been suspended pending the outcome of a bribery enquiry. FIFA said the ethics committee procedures against Warner “have been closed and the presumption of innocence is maintained”.
