By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – Former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, the official who swept to prominence promising to clean up the organisation but fooled all those who viewed him as the new white knight of transparency and tolerance, has been formally ousted from running football in his native Cayman Islands.
Webb, who led FIFA’s anti-discrimination body and trumpeted how badly a total reform overhaul was needed, was the most eye-catching of those arrested in that first dawn raid on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich back in May as part of the US-led crackdown on widespread corruption.
The former head of CONCACAF is currently suspended by FIFA and now living under house arrest on bail in Georgia. He recently changed his plea to guilty on charges of fraud and money-laundering.
Webb remained president of the Cayman Islands Football Association – but not any longer.
Acting CIFA president Bruce Blake will remain at the helm until elections take place at a planned congress next year though according to local reports, an internal row has already broken out with the sports ministry threatening to withhold around $128,000 of funding and the CIFA executive countering the government had no business interfering.
“It has been determined that he (Webb) is not fit for office of president of CIFA and as such his position as president of CIFA is officially vacated,” an official CIFA statement said following a local meeting of federation officials.
“Elections will be held at the earliest congress in 2016 for the president’s position, along with any other positions that are vacant. Although not yet formally notified, CIFA expects that FIFA and CONCACAF will follow suit in due course.”
Responding to sports minister Osbourne Bodden’s request for a full forensic audit of the association’s books to determine exactly how it has spent its money, the statement added: “CIFA is appalled by Minister Osbourne Bodden’s statements.
“CIFA has consistently provided annual audited financial statements to his ministry over the years,” adding that Bodden’s comments were “erroneous and misleading” and “not in the best interest of football”.
“Any interference with a democratic election process demonstrates a lack of understanding of constitutional law and is unwarranted. The minister cannot dictate to any national association who should or should not serve on its executive committee by interfering in an election process, which is determined by its membership.
In a tit-for-tat exchange, the sports minister took CIFA to task, asking exactly how $2.2 million received from FIFA for infrastructure development had been spent.
“It is disingenuous for CIFA to blame their alleged problems with their youth programmes on government’s lack of funding,” a counter-statement said.
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