BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -A damning list of alleged financial mismanagement by former CONCACAF leaders Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer was outlined to 40 football nations Wednesday, just minutes after they elected Jeffrey Webb as their new president.
The Cayman Islands banker was the only candidate to succeed disgraced former FIFA vice president Jack Warner. He resigned last June to avoid an investigation of a bribery scandal.
Warner ruled CONCACAF and Caribbean football for almost three decades before he resigned last year under pressure from FIFA.
Football leaders from across central America and the Caribbean lined up to denounce their one-time bosses Jack Werner and Chuck Blazer for alleged "robbery'' and "theft'' after the state of the governing body's financial affairs was exposed.
Webb said he was "shell-shocked'' by the body's financial affairs under the former leadership. He vowed to focus on the game of football and promised to shift the region's focus from "politics and economics'' to football.
One year ago, Webb's home country was one of four whistle-blowers on allegations of bribery, involving a longtime Caribbean strongman, Jack Warner and Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam, who attempted to run against FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Webb said he was dismayed by bribery allegations against his predecessor and allegations of wrongdoings against the confederation's former longtime general secretary Chuck Blazer.
"The revelations cause me not to be so proud,'' Webb told delegates.
Blazer, who still represents CONCACAF on FIFA's executive committee, did not attend Wednesday's session, citing illness.
Most members applauded the suggestion that Blazer be investigated by a FIFA ethics panel and applauded the new president for saying: "We have a responsibility to make sure the past ... will never be repeated.''
CONCACAF, which is legally based in the Bahamas, has reported itself to the United States Internal Revenue Service because of reporting and compliance deficiencies, legal counsel John Collins said.
"It is difficult to predict what CONCACAF's exposure will be,'' Collins said.
Webb lamented that the confederation neglected the development and improvement of the game in the region of 540 million people.
"What has our focus been? Politics and economics. Let us focus on our game,'' Webb said. He urged greater transparency as CONCACAF attempts to reform and modernize in line with new FIFA guidelines.
"We must move the clouds and allow the sunshine in,'' Webb said, and added: "The 2026 World Cup belongs to CONCACAF.''
FIFA president Sepp Blatter hailed Webb's election to the post, which includes a seat on the world body's executive committee.
"The credibility of CONCACAF is back,'' Blatter told the delegates. "We also in FIFA need credibility, but we cannot have it if one of our confederations was still a little bit shaky.''
Still, CONCACAF officials shone a harsh light on its accounts which have been analyzed since March by consultants BDO.
"Material weaknesses and significant deficiencies'' in financial controls through 2010 were revealed and the body also had "potential tax liabilities'' in excess of its $2 million allocated reserves, delegates were told.
Webb said CONCACAF members would be called to an extraordinary congress at the end of the year when the body's financial and tax affairs will be further scrutinized.
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Officials from across Central American and the Caribbean angrily turned on their former general secretary Blazer, the most senior American official in world football, and voted to seek his removal from FIFA's executive committee after 16 years.
FIFA must now decide how to deal with the issue at its full Congress of 208 countries on Friday.
"There are robbers with guns and there are robbers with white collars - and I don't want us to be represented by a thief with a white collar in FIFA,'' Cuba football president Luis Hernandez told Webb during his first meeting with delegates as president.
Citing illness, Blazer did not attend the meeting, which detailed an audit of CONCACAF's finances conducted after he stepped down as the body's top administrator in December.
The revelation of Warner's legal ownership of a $22.5 million CONCACAF center of excellence in his native Trinidad and Tobago stunned officials. They were also outraged to learn that Warner and former CONCACAF vice president Lisle Austin took out an unauthorized mortgage on the sprawling property in 2007.
The head of Mexican football, Justino Compean, said Blazer was "manipulating information'' and responsible for "obscene irregularities.''
Blazer's 10 percent commissions on television and sponsorship deals, paid to an offshore company called Sportvertising, helped push CONCACAF's staff costs to $9 million from income of $38 million last year.
"We feel let down, disappointed, dismayed,'' Webb said, and added: "Too often, improper decisions were made by individuals with their own agenda.''
CONCACAF is a non-profit organization legally based in the Bahamas, but also has offices in New York City. It has reported itself to the United States Internal Revenue Service because it failed to report tax returns since at least 2007, legal counsel John Collins said.
"It is difficult to predict what CONCACAF's exposure will be,'' Collins said.
Blazer countered that he was "not yet in litigation'' with CONCACAF to recover unpaid commissions, agreed by Warner since 1994.
"I'm perfectly satisfied that I did an excellent job,'' Blazer said in an interview. "I spent 21 years building the confederation and its competitions and its revenues, and I'm the one responsible for its good levels of income.''
Warner ruled CONCACAF and Caribbean football for almost three decades before he resigned in June under pressure from the subsequent FIFA probe.
Blazer was a longtime ally of Warner before collecting whistleblower evidence last year that sparked a bribery scandal and brought down his former boss.
Webb, a Cayman Islands banker, was the only candidate to succeed disgraced Warner, a former FIFA vice president.
One year ago, Webb's home country was among four whistle-blowers alleging bribery involving Warner and Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam, who attempted to run against FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Webb vowed to focus on the game and promised to shift the region's focus from "politics and economics'' to football.
Most members, including some sanctioned by FIFA in the 2011 bribery affair, applauded the suggestion that Blazer be investigated by a FIFA ethics panel.
Osiris Guzman of the Dominican Republic, who served a 15-day suspension from football, demanded that Blazer be "taken to justice. We were taken to the ethics committee for something that was nothing like this.''
They hailed the new president for saying: "We have a responsibility to make sure the past ... will never be repeated.''
Webb pledged that CONCACAF nations should work on improving their football and strive to win the World Cup in 2026.
Webb lamented that the confederation neglected developing the game in a region of 540 million people.
"What has our focus been? Politics and economics. Let us focus on our game,'' Webb said. He urged greater transparency as CONCACAF attempts to reform in line with new FIFA guidelines.
"We must move the clouds and allow the sunshine in,'' Webb said, and added: "The 2026 World Cup belongs to CONCACAF.''
Blatter hailed Webb's election on the world body's executive committee.
"The credibility of CONCACAF is back,'' Blatter told delegates. "We also in FIFA need credibility, but we cannot have it if one of our confederations was still a little bit shaky.''
Still, CONCACAF officials shone a harsh light on its accounts which have been analyzed since March by consultants BDO.
"Material weaknesses and significant deficiencies'' in financial controls through 2010 were revealed and the body also had "potential tax liabilities'' in excess of its $2 million allocated reserves, delegates were told.
Webb said CONCACAF members would be called to an extraordinary congress at the end of the year when the body's financial and tax affairs will be further scrutinized.
CONCACAF's $1 million rental offices in the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue will be reviewed.
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