By Andrew Warshaw
September 11 – Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who resigned from all football activities in the wake of last year’s cash-for-votes scandal, appears to have survived the latest attempt by political opponents to topple him from Government in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
Members of the Congress of the People (COP) voted against a motion filed by its vice-chairman, Vernon De Lima, which said the party would leave the coalition People’s Partnership government unless Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar failed to dismiss Warner (pictured top), who is National Security Minister.
De Lima had tabled the motion at the party’s national council on Sunday (September 9) but it was defeated by a massive 91-6 margin.
He had also threatened to personally leave the party, the second biggest member of the four-party coalition, if Warner was not thrown out of government.
Warner was accused of facilitating the infamous hotel meeting where Mohamed Bin Hammam allegedly tried to bribe Caribbean officials to vote for him against Sepp Blatter in the 2011 FIFA Presidential election.
Bin Hammam (pictured below, right), who dropped out of the race for the Presidency, was banned for life and although the verdict was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) through lack of sufficient evidence, he has been banned again, this time over allegations of wrongdoing when he ran Asian football.
Warner is presently under investigation by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for possible breaches of the Customs Act with respect to how $1 million (£630,000/€795,000) to pay the Caribbean members allegedly got into the country.
In its judgment over Bin Hammam, the CAS also cast Warner in a negative light, which de Lima had used in his motion as a ground for demanding Warner’s removal from the Government.
However, the former FIFA powerbroker is still not completely out of the woods.
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) President Jeffrey Webb has confirmed that the United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS), accounting firm BDO International and global legal company Sidley Austin LLP are working in tandem to scrutinise the conduct of Warner who ran CONCACAF for 20 years.
According to the www.wired868.com, CONCACAF was due to receive a report at an extraordinary congress this month but Webb claimed the scale of the operation has forced a postponement until the first quarter of 2013.
“This audit is a massive undertaking that will set our financial house straight and ensure that CONCACAF’s operations are executed in a responsible and ethical manner going forward,” said Webb.
“This initiative was inspired by the new CONCACAF’s commitment to full accountability and transparency and it is essential that we get this right so we can move on to focus on our true purpose, the development of the game.”
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