By David Gold
October 6 – Chuck Blazer will resign in December from his post as the General Secretary of CONCACAF, at the end of a tumultuous year for the confederation.
The 66-year-old was at the centre of the storm which engulfed FIFA days before their Presidential election in May when he revealed that Mohamed bin Hammam, then running for the post, had colluded with CONCACAF President Jack Warner to arrange a meeting at which bribes had been offered to vote for the Qatari.
Blazer had alleged that $40,000 (£26,000/€30,000) each was on offer to the CONCACAF members, and as a result both bin Hammam and Warner were suspended from their duties pending an ethics inquiry.
Bin Hammam then withdrew from the election, but now that he has been found guilty and suspended from football for life he continues to protest his innocence.
Warner’s temporary successor Lisle Austin then unsuccessfully tried to fire Blazer, and the American power broker told the Associated Press: “I’ve been running a governing body long enough.
“We’ve been through a little bit of a stagnation period.
“I want to do something entrepreneurial.
“It was the right time.
“I wanted to give them notice to let them start to look for somebody.”
Blazer will remain in his position on the FIFA Excutive Committee, on which he has served since 1997, but has not decided whether to continue in that role long term.
The American has played a key role in the growth of CONCACAF in the last 20 years, during which the Gold Cup, the international tournament for North American teams, was started.
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