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FIFA: Former Officials Warner, Blazer Speak Out Against Governing Body

Former FIFA VP Jack Warner, who was among 14 people indicted by a U.S. grand jury as part of an inquiry into corruption in world football, said that he "knows why the organization’s president, Sepp Blatter, announced plans to step down," according to Dan Bilefsky of the N.Y. TIMES. Warner said, "Blatter knows why he fell. And if anyone else knows, I do." Warner, who said that he "feared for his own life, also said he had evidence linking FIFA to his country's 2010 election." Warner was once a "close ally" of former CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. Blazer has "admitted taking bribes from bidders seeking to host the 1998 and 2010 World Cups" and is now "cooperating with the American authorities." Warner's sons, Daryan and Daryll, are also "cooperating with the authorities, having secretly pleaded guilty" in '13 after they tried to deposit more than $600,000 in nearly two dozen U.S. bank accounts in an attempt to "avoid detection." During a "rambling and sometimes incoherent" seven-minute TV address, called "The Gloves Are Off," Warner "invoked Gandhi and sought to cast himself as a victim." In his speech, a paid political advertisement, he said that he had "reams of documents, including copies of checks, linking Mr. Blatter and other senior FIFA officials to an effort to manipulate a 2010 election" in Trinidad & Tobago (N.Y. TIMES, 6/4).

SPEAKING UP: In London, Paul Farrell wrote Warner made an "extraordinary" TV appearance. Following his arrest, in a televised broadcast in Trinidad on Thursday, Warner "claimed he had documentation." Warner: "I will no longer keep secrets for them." Warner made "allegations that the documents 'also deal with my knowledge of transactions at Fifa, including -- but not limited to -- its president'" Blatter. Warner also "apologised for not disclosing his knowledge of the alleged links previously." He said, "Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming. The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall" (GUARDIAN, 6/4). The PA reported still, a half-hour after the speech aired, Warner "appeared at his Independent Liberal Party's rally held under a canopy on a residential street." At least a couple hundred people were "present when Warner spoke, many of them having not seen the televised remarks." Warner -- "mopping sweat from his forehead several times -- told supporters at the rally that he will not hold back" in his plan to "expose scandal" at FIFA. He said that he has "compiled reams of documents and is delivering them to his attorneys, for them to disseminate as they see fit" (PA, 6/3). In N.Y., Peter Evans wrote Warner said that he "had a series of documents -- which he had now placed in 'different and respected hands' -- detailing links between FIFA, its funding and the two major political parties in Trinidad." He "apologized for not making the documents available sooner." Warner: "I reasonably and surely fear for my life." Neither the PM's office in Trinidad & Tobago nor the country's embassy in London "could be reached for comment" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/4). The BBC reported Warner, 72, "resigned from all football activity" in '11 amid bribery allegations and later "stepped down as Trinidad and Tobago's security minister amid a fraud inquiry" (BBC, 6/4). 

BLAZER COMES FORWARD: In London, Tom Peck wrote the "corrupt" Blazer admitted to "accepting bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as host of the 2010 World Cup" and also to "facilitating the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup." In the latter case, the payment is understood to have been made by Morocco, who "lost to France for the right to host the 1998 World Cup" in '92, a competition that was organized by UEFA President Michel Platini (INDEPENDENT, 6/4). In London, Kara Scannell wrote Blazer added that between '04 and '11, he "and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes" in connection with South Africa’s winning bid to host the 2010 World Cup. Blazer also "admitted to taking bribes in connection with multiple sports marketing contracts" for CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments between '96 and '03. The transcript revealed few new details about Blazer’s role in the "scheme or other schemes." Authorities have said that their investigation is "in the early stages but people familiar with the matter have said that the FBI is investigating whether bribes were paid to affect the awarding of the World Cup to Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/4). The BBC reported the details of Blazer's guilty pleas "came as prosecutors unsealed the transcript of the 2013 hearing" in the Eastern N.Y. District Court. The admissions are part of a "sentencing deal with prosecutors." Other admissions among the 10 charges in the 40-page dossier include U.S. tax evasion. Federal agents investigating the tax evasion had "detained Mr Blazer and he agreed to co-operate" in the U.S. investigations. He is said to have "agreed to record his colleagues using a microphone hidden in a keychain." Blazer is said to be "suffering from colon cancer" (BBC, 6/4). 


WHEN IN DOUBT: The AFP reported former 1998 French World Cup Organizing Committee GM Jacques Lambert on Thursday "refuted bribery accusations" made by Blazer. Blazer "claimed that he 'agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup.'" But Lambert, currently the head of France's Euro 2016 organizing committee, denied any "knowledge of any irregular payments." Lambert: "My intimate and profound conviction is that the French bid team committed no irregularities." Lambert was not actually part of the bid team that "beat Morocco for the right to host the 1998 World Cup but joined the project" as GM of the organizing committee in '92, once France had been "chosen to stage the event" (AFP, 6/4). 

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