By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
February 18 – Chuck Blazer, the larger-than-life whistleblower who sparked the infamous cash-for-votes scandal that led to a spate of resignations and suspensions among senior figures at FIFA, is stepping down from the world governing body’s executive committee after 16 years.
Blazer, the former CONCACAF general secretary who went public with bribery accusations against then CONCACAF President Jack Warner and Asian Football Confederation supremo Mohamed bin Hammam, will not seek a fifth term and will leave his post in May.
The most senior American in world football, Blazer will go down in history as one of the most colourful and controversial officials in football politics.
Two years ago, he blew the whistle on Warner – his one-time colleague – and bin Hammam claiming they had colluded to bribe Caribbean delegates to vote for bin Hammam against Sepp Blatter at the FIFA presidential election in the summer of 2011.
According to Blazer’s stunning evidence, Warner arranged a campaign conference on behalf of bin Hammam in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to which all members of the Caribbean Football Union were invited. The next day, according to Blazer’s evidence, delegates were offered $40,000 in cash.
Some reported the incident to Blazer who commissioned an inquiry and passed on the information, ultimately leading to Warner walking away before he could be brought to book and bin Hammam, who immediately pulled out of the presidential race, quitting a few weeks ago following a lengthy and determined campaign to clear his name. Additionally, a raft of Caribbean members were also sanctioned.
As the fall-out over his unprecedented allegations intensified, Blazer became a hate figure among certain federations as he himself became the subject of corruption claims over his financial arrangements with CONCACAF.
A canny and outspoken lawyer by profession, Blazer has always insisted all his financial dealings within the confederation were properly documented and declared but suspicion and unconfirmed rumours have long remained.
Yet there is no doubt Blazer, who already stepped down as CONCACAF general secretary in December, has been a force for significant progress over the years within both CONCACAF and football in his own country, playing a major role in helping to secure the 1994 World Cup for the United States, enhancing the reputation of the Gold Cup – the region’s blue riband event – pulling off lucrative television and marketing deals and witnessing the rise of Major League Soccer.
The beginning of the end, however, came at last year’s CONCACAF congress in Budapest – attended by this correspondent – when delegates, upset at alleged persistent financial mismanagement by Blazer when he was general secretary, turned their back on the burly, bearded American in a series of a angry statements. The entire saga almost brought CONCACAF to its knees by splits and factions before Jeffrey Webb was appointed President with a mandate to restore much-needed unity.
The contest to replace Blazer at FIFA is expected to be between US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati and Mexico’s Justino C ompean. The election is scheduled on April 19 at the confederation’s congress in Panama City, with the victor installed on the FIFA exco at FIFA’s own congress on May 31 in Mauritius.
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