ZURICH, Switzerland, CMC – FIFA have debunked claims that the award of lucrative World Cup TV rights to former vice president Austin “Jack” Warner for as low as US $1 had nothing to do with his support for current president Sepp Blatter.
The sport’s World governing body said yesterday Warner’s claim that he acquired the TV rights for a small fee was accurate, but his statement last week was filled with “several inaccuracies and falsehoods.”
FIFA said Warner received the Caribbean broadcasting rights at a nominal fee from as early as 1986 and not – as he claimed – from 1998 when Blatter was first elected.
The issue of television rights, it said, “had nothing to do with the 1998 or 2002 election campaigns, or with any other election campaign.
“To imply the contrary is completely false.”
FIFA suggested it conducted a detailed research into Warner’s allegations and had done nothing untoward.
The governing body said Warner himself had explained at a 2001 FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Busan, South Korea, that he had acquired the rights from the then FIFA vice-president Guillermo Cañedo in 1986.
“As is written in the minutes of that meeting, Jack Warner explained that he then resold the rights to the Caribbean Football Union, subsequently ploughing the money back into football development in the Caribbean area,” the FIFA statement said.
“Until 1998, TV rights were provided by the rights-holders for symbolic sums in many territories (for example in Africa), in order to maximise the worldwide television coverage. . .and also to support national associations and confederations with a source of revenue for football development.”
The FIFA statement added: “In addition, FIFA has traditionally (and still does), established and applied globally an exploitation model according to which the worldwide TV rights for all FIFA World Cup qualifier matches are vested with such national association hosting the respective qualifying match.
“The income generated through this exploitation model is a major source of income for each national association and gives each national association the financial means for football development in each country.”
FIFA also noted that TV rights for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in the Caribbean were approved by the FIFA Executive Committee at their November and December 2001 meetings, not after the 2002 elections.
Warner was FIFA’s Senior Vice President until he walked away from the game in disgrace, following a probe into his role in the infamous cash-for-votes scandal that rocked the game in the Caribbean last year.