It is considered a truism that a man is innocent until proven guilty.
Even if that man is Jack Warner.
The former FIFA vice-president was forced to resign from his posts as president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football) after he was investigated by FIFA’s Ethics Committee in the wake of the infamous cash-for-votes scandal in Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 that engulfed a number of Caribbean football leaders not to mention another FIFA vice-president in Mohammed bin Hammam.
Two years later CONCACAF produced a damning Integrity Report which concluded that Warner had committed fraud against CONCACAF and FIFA.
The 112-page report published in 2013, concluded that Warner had misappropriated funds from FIFA; that Warner and General Secretary of CONCACAF Chuck Blazer had “breached their fiduciary duties to CONCACAF,” and that the two had not only violated the CONCACAF Statutes but that they had also violated the Ethics Code of FIFA.
Arising out of the Integrity Report was the revelation (some would say bombshell) that the land on which the Centre of Excellence in Trinidad was built with funds provided by FIFA was actually owned by Warner or a company of his.
Head of CONCACAF’s Integrity Committee Sir David Simmons had concluded in the report, that Warner and Blazer were “fraudulent in their management” of CONCACAF’s activities, which was kind of putting it a bit mildly.
Other news reports referred to them as “white collar thieves.”
It seems at least to US law enforcement officials, that there are more of that ilk operating in football still.
Late last month several senior FIFA officials including then CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, were arrested in Switzerland on corruption charges on the eve of FIFA elections to name a new president as police officers raided the Five Star Hotel Baur au Lac where they were staying early in the morning.
Simultaneously, following a three-year long US investigation, some 14 football officials, including Warner, were indicted in connection with the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) investigation into fraud by persons in the upper echelons of FIFA.
Warner, who was back home in his native Trinidad, immediately was faced with an extradition order and turned himself in to the authorities there where he subsequently spent a night in the lock ups following his inability to post bail in a timely manner.
On the face of it Warner seems to be a Bill Cosby type of target with allegations surfacing almost daily seemingly from all quarters alleging all kinds of – in his case – financial irregularities and not as in Cosby’s case those of a sexual nature.
What is different this time is that US law enforcement officials seem to have built up an almost watertight case against the former CFU Head Honcho based on evidence provided by none other than Warner’s two sons, Darryl and Daryan, both of whom have copped plea deals along with his former right hand man in CONCACAF turned whistleblower Blazer. In the face of all the allegations (some of which are not as far-fetched as one might think) Warner remains unmoved and continues to steadfastly profess his innocence which forces one to believe that he is either telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth or he is nothing if not bold and possibly a bit out of touch with reality.
He has at times protested his innocence and at other times threatened to reveal from tsunamis to cheques (which he actually did recently) in defence of his integrity. There are several allegations of Warner receiving cash in his capacity as head of football in the region and some reports reveal that the cash did not always reach its intended destination or at least not all of it did.
One such case involves relief money that was destined for Haiti following the devastation of that country by an earthquake in 2010 which killed an estimated 300,000 people including a number of Haitian football officials and destroyed the football federation in the island.
Years afterwards the Haiti football federation claimed that it had not received all of the money.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) quickly distanced itself from that fiasco saying that while it was aware that funds had been sent for Haiti, Warner was the person to talk to.
“The TTFF acknowledges it is aware of funds made available by both FIFA and the Korean Football Federation for the football victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010,” the TTFF said then in a press release.
“However, we are unable to confirm the quantum of funds received, as these monies did not go into the account used by the TTFF administration for its day-to-day operations, but instead to the TTFF’s LOC account as was requested by Mr. Jack Warner, the former vice-president of FIFA and special adviser to the TTFF,” a Caribbean Media Corporation report had stated.
According to FIFA it wired US$250,000 following a request from Warner adding that there were claims that the Haiti federation only received US$60,000.
But is FIFA complicit in all of these dealings that involves Warner? The Trinidadian seems to think so.
“Why are there no investigations into Sepp Blatter? No other person has brought so much shame and disgrace on FIFA,” Warner said earlier this month.
One can recall Warner visiting Guyana several years ago when the then Guyana Football Association (GFA) held a press conference at the Le Meriden Pegasus Hotel. Then, in the face of a somewhat aggressive press corps and in answer to a question from the late Ronald Waddell about the lack of accountability by the GFA over the annual FIFA subvention of US$250,000, Warner told the gathering that the GFA did not need to satisfy the people of Guyana as to what was being done with the money as long as they satisfied FIFA. And that was that!
The threatened revolt was quelled. The meeting ended in triumph for the GFA and Warner.
Now, however, Warner’s not so favourite uncle “Sam” is saying that Warner and company needs to be able to prove that the money they received for the various development and other programmes was used for those explicit purposes and they are using terms such as wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering etc., and accusing Warner of all of those things which they say are in fact, illegal.
Of course Warner can tell the “Feds” that he only has to satisfy FIFA as to what was done with the money he received but one is not sure if that defence will get him very far this time
