By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 11 – CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb pledged to never to return to the confederation’s corruption-tainted past. In a dignified yet passionate address to the region’s 41 member nations at the CONCACAF congress here, Webb told delegates there would be no letup in maintaining the transparency showed in his two years in charge.
“This year has been most challenging and we have acted decisively to reform our confederation while continuing to invest in our future,” Webb said. “We have rebuilt our foundation, now let’s continue the good work.”
Webb described corruption within football as “the biggest single threat” to the game but one his confederation would be tackling head on. And, he revealed, CONCACAF would be investing an estimated 70% of its budget over the next year in some 80 development programmes.
Webb’s address was preceded by the latest rallying call from FIFA president Sepp Blatter who once again made it clear that he was ready to carry on for a fifth term despite having originally indicated that the current four-year term would be his last.
Blatter’s language was far less hostile than at the congresses of Africa and Asia when he attacked the media, mainly targeting Britain, for undermining FIFA.
But in terms of his own future, the message was the same. “My mandate as president of FIFA started in 1998 specifically with the support of your confederation and now my mandate comes to an end but my mission – our mission together – is not yet finished,” said Blatter. “I’ll be honest, it burns stronger than ever to go forward”
Many in football’s corridors of power believe Webb, who only took over at Concacaf two years ago, could well be the man who succeeds Blatter, possibly in 2019, and he received the strongest possible endorsement from the present incumbent. “You have a powerhouse in FIFA in Jeffrey Webb,” said Blatter.
Blatter also announced that the two women co-opted on to FIFA’s executive committee last year would each be given another one-year mandate.
Blatter said he expected FIFA’s Congress on Wednesday to approve the continuation of CONCACAF’s own Sonia Bien-Aime (Turks & Caicos) and Moya Dodd of Australia but what happens thereafter to the latter is open to question. It is understood that Asian football boss Sheikh Salman is keen for Dodd’s slot to be converted into an extra seat for his own confederation though that may not be possible since Dodd was a FIFA appointment.
“We will propose to Congress to re-elect them for another year and then, in 2015, we will see,” said Blatter somewhat cryptically.
Blatter also repeated his demand to deduct points from clubs and countries who are guilty of racism, an issue close to the heart of Webb who runs FIFA’s anti-discrimination Task Force.
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