By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – The fallout from former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner’s resignation over last year’s cash-for-votes scandal shows no sign of abating.
Reports in his native Trinidad and Tobago say Warner (pictured top), who was also head of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) for 11 years and President of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), is being investigated by the FBI over claims of money laundering, while a Government committee is delving separately into his involvement in Trinidad and Tobago’s appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals.
According to newspaper reports, the money laundering allegations against Warner stem from his relationship with Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF’s former general secretary.
The pair fell out spectacularly after Blazer blew the whistle on Warner and Asian football supremo Mohammed Bin Hammam over the infamous CFU meeting held in Port of Spain in May last year.
Blazer’s allegations resulted in Warner walking away before he could be brought to book and Bin Hammam, who allegedly offered 40 CFU members $40,000 (£25,000/€31,000) each for their votes in the FIFA Presidential election, being banned.
Bin Hammam ultimately had that ban quashed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but is still ousted over separate charges of alleged misuse of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) funds.
Warner has meanwhile continued to pursue his duties as a Government Minister, first as Minister of Works, now Security Minister.
But he has been rocked by further claims of wrongdoing while he worked in football.
Few details of the apparent FBI investigation have emerged but that plus the 2006 World Cup probe, being conducted by a Governmental “Integrity Commission”, threatens to heap even more doubt of Warner’s credibility.
For years, a number of players in the national team squad have been pursuing Warner, who controlled funds when he was in charge of football in the country, through the courts to try to secure the bonuses they insist they were promised.
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