(Trinidad Express) While his father chose to not provide FIFA’s ethics committee with answers, Daryan Warner had indicated he was ready to face the heat and prove his innocence with respect to allegations made against him.
Daryan, son of former Government minister and FIFA vice-president and Concacaf president Jack Warner, stated this in response to a question from New York Times sportswriter Jere Longman at the height of the FIFA presidential election campaign in 2011.
Warner (D) is reported to be a co-operating witness in a current Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case in the United States with respect to allegations of football corruption.
The 2011 e-mail between Warner and Longman surfaced on the internet yesterday.
Simpaul Travel, formerly owned by the Warner family, was previously investigated by FIFA after it was revealed that tickets for the 2006 World Cup were channelled through the company.
On June 26, 2011, Longman e-mailed Daryan Warner with respect to Simpaul Travel and a FIFA decision that US$1 million be repaid to FIFA.
Longman noted the minutes of the FIFA executive committee meeting from December 5 and 6, 2006 said: “The decision passed by the FIFA executive committee on June 4, 2006, which stipulated that Simpaul Travel and/or Daryan Warner had to reimburse FIFA the sum of euro 754,375 (approximately US$1 million) for SOS Children’s Villages had still not been complied with despite numerous reminders from FIFA.”
Longman added that the minutes stated further that a payment of US$250,000 had been made, which would be passed on to a charity.
In response to Longman, Daryan Warner questioned how could any reasonable individual accept the statement issued by the FIFA executive committee in the absence of the usual due process of any investigation.
He said he was never called before any FIFA committee to offer a defence or present evidence.
“While the FIFA code of ethics has no provisions to fine or penalise organisations or individuals not associated with FIFA or any of its member associations, I was ready to appear before FIFA just as I facilitated a similar request from Ernst & Young representatives at the request of the FIFA general secretary,” stated Daryan Warner.
“I had nothing to hide then and I have even less need to be cautious now. The reality is that FIFA knew that it could never enforce any such judgment against me and apparently hoped that the issue would die a natural death,” he added
“I on the other hand chose to move on from the issue and raise no strong objection to the statements made so as to not embarrass FIFA, mainly because of my father’s association with the organisation. The million-dollar question remains, why would FIFA make a ruling that its own statutes does not give it the jurisdiction to enforce?” Warner continued.
The ticketing issue, he said, was twisted and branded to suit the specific motives of different individuals.
Stating that he was a “casualty of war” in this matter, Daryan Warner said that he never paid any funds in his personal capacity or as a director of Simpaul Travel to FIFA, nor did he give any instruction to settle any fine as contained in the meeting’s minutes.
Warner explained that as a businessman he created packages to sell, which included room blocks, FIFA tickets, transfers, soccer memorabilia and other goodies.
This formula, said Warner, was also used by FIFA.
“I have also being accused of using tickets allocated to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to satisfy the requirements for the WC 2006 promotion and nothing could be further from the truth. As stated in the Ernst & Young report, these packages were created prior to the qualification of our national team and the local association would not have been able to order tickets in the quantity needed unless our team was also playing Mexico and Japan,” he stated.
Warner advised Longman to read the Ernst & Young report on the matter, adding: “while even that report isn’t completely accurate, at least it seems to suggest that I am not guilty of any wrong doings or crime”.
He also pointed out that following World Cup 2006, FIFA’s general secretary “mysteriously resigned” after his co-ordination of a very successful World Cup and has not uttered one word on this or any other subject in football in the public domain.
“I truly wonder what he would say on this and other matters if he was able and willing to respond,” stated Warner.
Concacaf’s integrity committee recently found that Jack Warner fraudulently managed Concacaf during his tenure as president.
He has since resigned from all Government posts but is seeking re-election as the MP for the Chaguanas West constituency.
