FIFA drop multi-million pound TV deal with Warner's firm

By Andrew Warshaw

September 9 – FIFA have terminated a multi-million pound TV deal for the 2014 World Cup after discovering the rights had been sublicensed to a company owned by Jack Warner, their former senior vice-president who resigned from all footballing activities after being charged in the recent bribery and corruption scandal.

The agreement had been struck with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), many of whose officials are facing claims they took part in the infamous Trinidad meeting in May when the bribes are said to have been paid.

FIFA say they never approved the sublicensing deal with JD International (JDI), a company run by Warner at the time he was President of the CFU and presumably regarded therefore as a conflict of interests.

He sold the rights, which covered 29 Caribbean countries, to Jamaica-based cable provider SportsMax in 2007 for a fee reported to be between $18 million (£11.3 million/€13 million) and $20 million (£12.5 million/€14.4 million).

Warner’s involvement was legal but FIFA have now sent a letter to the CFU saying they had “only recently become aware” of the sublicensing agreement.

FIFA said in a statement to the Press Association: “The CFU was a media rights licensee for FIFA events in selected territories in the Caribbean.

“However, CFU is no longer a media rights licensee of FIFA.

“FIFA has secured good coverage in the region directly, but has still not finalised any announcement.”

But Warner has reacted by saying FIFA’s action is “designed to go after me” and that he was shocked that the CFU had been targeted.

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