By Andrew Warshaw
January 19 – Horace Burrell (pictured), the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) President suspended by FIFA’s Ethics Committee over the cash-for-votes scandal, has refused to explain exactly why he was sanctioned.
Burrell has just returned after a three-month ban for unspecified violations but says the matter is now closed and that he is concentrating on resuscitating football programmes in the Caribbean.
“Coming off a three-month lay-off, returning to office is really pleasant,” Burrell reportedly told a press briefing at the JFF offices.
“Today is a day for telling you exactly how we’re going to move forward.
“We’re not going to be speaking a lot about the past because as far as FIFA is concerned, all that took place in May is now closed.”
Despite his ban, Burrell, who has three more months of the original suspension deferred, has somehow managed to get himself appointed as a member of the nine-man Normalisation Committee that emerged in the wake of the cash-for-votes scandal that almost brought Caribbean football to its knees.
The body will operate until a congress can be held to elect a new Caribbean Football Union (CFU) President and executive.
Burrell was one of a number of high-ranking CFU officials sanctioned after the infamous corruption meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last May when FIFA Presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam (pictured) met with the CFU membership and was accused of offering $40,000 (£26,000/€31,000) to associations in exchange for supporting him against Sepp Blatter in the June election.
Bin Hammam later withdrew from the race, enabling Blatter to return for a fourth term unopposed.
Burrell admitted that “everyone who attended the meeting in Trinidad and Tobago regretted that we did, it is not something that we are happy about…but in life things will happen and one hopes to learn from them”.
Quoted in the Jamaican media, he added that the region would be “fractured at this time, but we are now in the rebuilding phase and that’s what we’re trying to do now”.
Burrell disclosed that a $5 million (£3.2 million/€3.9 million) budget would be drawn up for the Jamaican senior squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil and the side, idle since October, would shortly play three friendlies.
Contrary to reports, Burrell will not, however, resume his role on FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee.
Composition of all committees was reviewed at the end of last year and FIFA confirmed to insideworldfootball that Burrell is no longer a member.
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