The promised Jack Warner tsunami following the cash-for-votes scandal seems to be in full flow.
Most of what has been gushing from the mouth of Warner has been aimed at FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
If we didn’t know we would think that the two were sworn enemies from birth.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Warner and Blatter used to be bosom buddies. Their friendship was formed and cemented during the reign of Brazilian Joao Havelange, who, like Blatter after him, was perceived as a great friend of Caribbean football.
Don’t forget the Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence was established in Trinidad in the mid-80s. I had the privilege of being one of the specially invited guests at the lavish opening.
Havelange sang the football praises of Warner then as if he had no imperfections. Warner returned the favour. In subsequent times Blatter and Warner did the same for each other. It may have all been a case of expediency.
Warner as supreme leader of CONCACAF for almost three decades was a de facto kingmaker of the highest order.
The CONCACAF votes could help a candidate land the presidency of FIFA. And if rumour is to be believed Warner also had strong ties to Africa and Asia. He was no small player in FIFA football politics. He had the power to make or break you.
As a result, the relationship between Blatter and Warner may have been one based primarily on patronage.
However, when the scandal broke about the cash-for-votes in the run-up to the last FIFA presidential race, Blatter was quick to distance himself from Warner who became one of the scapegoats of the saga.
I thought he was a scapegoat because the spotlight was on alleged corruption for years and FIFA paid little attention to it.
Instead of working feverishly to eradicate any signs of it they apparently turned a blind eye and kept the old boys’ club intact.
Warner was embroiled in an alleged ticket controversy in the 2006 World Cup and just recently Havelange was linked to receiving kickbacks from a now defunct marketing company that worked on FIFA’s behalf.
In other words, it is only when CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer blew the whistle on what allegedly took place at a meeting in Trinidad in May that FIFA was forced to take a strong stance after coming under universal pressure from the media and their major sponsors.
Warner became one of the major casualities, being forced to resign from all posts he held in FIFA. That action prevented him from being investigated in respect of the money that was given to some Caribbean football officials in exchange for a vote for head of the Asian Football Federation Mohammad Bin Hammam of Qatar.
Bin Hammam denied the allegations but was subsequently banned for life, a decision he is appealing.
His banishment made it a one-horse race for the presidency and Blatter was duly retained unopposed.
At that point there was no further use for Warner and his closest allies, destroying the myth of their indispensability to Blatter and his supporters.
The kingmaker was dethroned in the wink of an eye. I believed his pride was wounded more than his loss of power.
Warner is a very proud black man but it makes you wonder why all of a sudden he is now seeing FIFA as a racist organization.
Warner was once very close to the seat of power and I don’t recall him during his FIFA halycon days saying anything negative about the organization.
The world’s governing body for football couldn’t have turned bad overnight!
Indeed, his present stance might be interpreted as a case of sour grapes.
In all fairness, though, I support his stance in principle with regards to FIFA installing a so-called Normalization Committee to oversee the affairs of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) until elections are called in May next year.
Inspite all that has happened, I see it as interference in the running of a sovereign and legitimate organization which up until now had a very clean image.
CFU has been run by people of great intellect and character. They have shown that they could get the job done in the past without direct interference from the parent body.
They should have been allowed to regroup without FIFA’s heavy hand directing them.
To be summoned to Switzerland and for FIFA to hand pick a committee smacks of disrespect for the calibre of people who comprise the committee. They shouldn’t have been party to it.
I wonder, though, if Warner’s latest verbal attack on FIFA had something to do with the fact that for the first time in the history of Caribbean football not one Trinidadian is part of the controls.
• Andi Thornhill is an award-winning free-lance sports journalist.
