Jack Warner has been caught on tape apparently urging fellow Caribbean officials to accept cash gifts from Mohamed Bin Hammam, the disgraced former presidential candidate.
Telegraph Sport has seen the remarkable footage in which Warner, the controversial former vice-president of Fifa, appears to be recorded telling other members of the Caribbean Football Union members they must decide whether to accept the “gifts” of $40,000 (£25,000) each, and urging them to vote for Bin Hammam rather than Sepp Blatter in the Fifa presidential elections.
The recording was made on May 11, the day after the money is alleged to have offered the money in individual brown envelopes, and is being used as evidence at a Fifa hearing this week at which 16 officials from the Caribbean Football Union are accused of violating Fifa’s code of ethics.
Warner himself is no longer under investigation by Fifa after resigning on June 20, while Bin Hammam, who was forced to withdraw his challenge for the presidency in the wake of the scandal, has been banned for life by Fifa.
The 16 officials facing investigation this week have each been passed the footage of Warner’s address, which also features withering attacks on both Blatter and Uefa president Michel Platini, whom Warner warns will turn Fifa into a “French province forever” if he succeeds Blatter.
Warner begins the meeting by asking: “Is there media here?” On being told there are no journalists present, he explains the detail behind Bin Hammam’s “gifts” but stresses they should not be seen by the outside world to have come from Bin Hammam.
VIDEO - Full version of Jack Warner's address to Caribbean Fifa delegates - exclusive.
Exclusive video of Jack Warner apparently offering 'gifts’ of £25,000 to Caribbean delegates – full transcript
The Telegraph
"Because I don’t want him to even remotely appear that anyone has any obligation for your vote because of what gifts you have given them, and he fully accepted that.
"I said to him also I would not even mention it but I will give it to them before you leave, because Jack Warner [inaudible] the next thing you know Jack Warner keeps everything.
"Before you left I told you to collect it between 3-5pm.
"Before I came here this morning to explain to you, I saw a few of you rush to the office in New York, the Concacaf office in New York, to talk of business before we had even talked of it among ourselves.
"Oh God guys, I mean even [inaudible] the media this morning.
"You rush off to New York, I imagine by now it is in Reuters and DPA [German press agency].
"I said to him before he left, yes, any country that doesn’t want the gift has the right to give it back to him.
"What I am telling you even Mr Blatter is aware of, no secret, I told Blatter also what he gets as well. But let me talk to New York to stop you running to New York and tell everything.
"I know there are some people here who believe they are more pious than thou. If you are pious go to a church friends, but the fact is our business is our business.
"If you are coming in this room here with cuss and disagree and rave and rant but when we leave here our business is our business. And that is what solidarity is about.
"So I am making the point here folks that it was given to you because he could not bring the silver tray and a silver, some silver trinkets and so on, and some thing with Qatari sand.
"So I said put a value on it and give the countries, and the gift you get is for you to determine how best you want to use it for development for football in your country. Whether you want to pay salaries, whenever to pay rent, whenever to buy equipment, whatever, it is for development but it is not a gift that I want him to give to you. Because as I said before I didn’t want him to appear that he is buying votes.
"And I heard this morning very disgusting things. We are under no obligation, we are in the Caribbean and Concacaf are under no obligation whatsoever to vote for anybody except who we believe will better our interests.
"So I want to put clear and behind, and if there is anybody here who has a conscience and wishes to send back the money I am willing to take the money and give it back to him at any moment.
"Or conversely you believe you don’t want it then give it to somebody else who you think is in need. Because some of you might believe, there is some people who might believe [inaudible] well fine no problem.
"Give it to Trinidad and Tobago, give it Anguilla, give it to Barbados, if you don’t want it, [woman raises hand] correct, give it to BVI, but don’t go and talk of it outside and believe that you are pious and you are holy and better than anybody else.
"So this morning I get a call from Chuck [Blazer, general secretary of CONCACAF and a Fifa Executive Committee member], Chuck asked me some kind of nonsense and his man comes [inaudible] foolishness. [inaudible] concerns what it was yesterday.
"Now we are free to discuss it here now and we can do so again in Zurich. Two things weren’t clear and unclear to you yesterday.
"The first thing is that Mr Bin Hammam is fighting for the post of president, not only because he is 62 … but because if he does not go now the next person who will be the president in four years time will be Michel Platini.
"The fact is that Michel Platini is being groomed to succeed Mr Blatter and we don’t know if it is in our best interests to have a French president, a French general secretary … but in any event I don’t think it is in our best interests to do that.
"And if you want to take football and make it purely European ... so I don’t know if it is in our best interests to vote for Mr Bin Hammam merely on what he said yesterday.
"Sometimes my grandma tells me you know what you have, you don’t know what you get. And therefore in some ways we have a very [inaudible] decision to make.
"On the one hand Mr Blatter and the security that which he has given us in the past, and the other hand Mr Bin Hammam who has brought fresh ideas and who wants to stop the French chain in Zurich.
"I will give you no advice this morning but I would like to open the floor to hear some of your views and arguments before we go to Zurich. After all we have 25 out of 35 members and if we cannot determine the course of events at Concacaf on this issue and any other issue then something is wrong.
"As such I open the floor to get your sentiments on this matter. You don’t have to say who you are voting for, you don’t have to even give a hint, but analyse the situation and let us see if by discussing it we come to some kind of consensus.
[Cut]
Question from the floor: "We have had four years to make up our mind whether we would accept Platini or someone else, I would like to ask a question would candidate Jack Warner be interested in running for the presidency.
"Warner: Your question is clear Patrick and I must give you guys leadership [inaudible] I want to discuss all the ramifications involved. If you vote with Mr Blatter then in some ways [inaudible] we have to ensure that we don't have Mr Platini as some automatic inheritor of Fifa. Because I tell you if that happens Fifa will become a French province forever. Forever.
"And if we stay with Blatter we have to put checks and balances in place and groom the president of Barbados, I’m just calling a name because he is my partner, to be president of Fifa. Groom him now or go to Pele, go to somebody, get someone who is groomed so Platini will not be the automatic heir.
"Because once Bin Hammam loses it means that is the end of any opponent. So I am saying if we do vote with Bin Hammam we look at why, why does every country in Africa given an artificial pitch but it is not happening in Concacaf?
"Why?
"Why did Concacaf want four places and can’t get it but other confederations get it. We have to make sure that we get benefits long in advance and that would guarantee us a place in shop? Because other guys made promises before elections and when they finish and they win actually you don’t see them. [Inaudible], as your president I will advise you in the end how we are going.
"Believe you me ... this is no automatic decision on our part as in the past. I have told him that we who have supported him faithfully have not benefited from that support. I have told him so. I have shown him from 2002 [inaudible] when half the world was against him, Africa, Europe, we stood up and backed him and then he went to embrace his enemies and not his friends. I told him all of that in Guatemala you know.
"I said I cannot tell you that you are automatic choice. I told him [inaudible] Urs Linsi. Urs Linis was the former general secretary of Fifa, he wanted to come here I stopped him because I didn’t trust him. He wanted to come here on this platform with Bin Hammam and say to you all what Sepp Blatter told him to do Jack Warner and to do of us.
[Inaudible]
"But I said to Urs Linsi don’t come, we didn't talk before talk before, we are talking our vote [inaudible] but I know so we have suffered, all I am saying to you is whatever we do know, guys, if ever the power of Fifa is held in our hands that time is now.
"And believe you me, it is not in the hands of Concacaf you know, it is the hands of the CFU. Mr Bin Hammam is dismissive of the seven members in Europe, he knows that he can’t get them. He know that. He knows that he can’t get one or two in the Caribbean. But he also knows that if we decide how we vote as a group, as a bloc, he knows that will decide who wins.
"Right now he has about 90 votes, right now Sepp Blatter has 85 votes, count them. That is 180, Fifa has 209 members, look and see what is happening, I tell you how important we are.
"And he cannot fritter that away. Never have we been so important as we are now, never have we been so important as we are now, and we can’t just throw it away by saying Jamaica for Blatter, Barbados for Bin Hammam, X for Blatter Y for Bin Hammam.
"We can’t do that now and that is why we are here this morning. And that is why I told Mr Bin Hammam that I would discuss this today. I wanted to give you an idea because it is not fair to you, and when we leave here and go to Zurich we must go in a position of strength.
[Cut]
[Second speaker from the floor, understood to be Colin Klass, Guyana FA president banned for 26 months]: "It is so important to stay together. I am so deeply disturbed, and colin indeed mentioned also. It is beyond me to think and to fathom how something that could have happened yesterday and someone called the Concacaf office . I really want us to reflect on that for a little.
"Maybe we have some people inside here who are naive. This is the Caribbean we have the numbers, 10 versus 25 and let us not lose sight of that gentlemen. It is very very critical for us to stick together as a region in whatever we do.
"And hearing that the business of the Caribbean was discussed out of the room, out of the Concacaf and then you know other people calling to say hey that disturbs me and I, really want you individuals to think, we have to stay together as a group. We swim together or we sink. If we are united then we will never be ridiculed. Each one stands for the other. That’s very very very important. I really ask our brothers and sisters to reflect on that.
"We have to stay together and as my brother Colin just said we should never, we should never lose control of Concacaf.
"Because if you sit there and believe that it is going to be business as usual, if we lose the leadership of Concacaf then you make a sad mistake and as my brother said he has seen some signs that are of great concerns in terms of a small number of other members wanting to take control and for us always to be following.
"We have to be prepared to lead and I really ask all of us to reflect on that. Just reflect slowly
"Those of us who have been around for many many years in football will remember when this organisation was led by a Mexican . In terms of committees you will see maybe two persons on a committee
"They’re all from the other areas outside of the Caribbean. Today many of you sit on committees and it is only cos we have the control. So my members I beg you – think think think, we cannot lose control. Thank you
Warner: "Thank you Colin, thank you captain Colin – thank you for your kind sentiments but I have no interests in the presidency of Fifa. But thank you for your kind sentiments.
"I would advise you when you got to Zurich, look, read everything that you see coming out and always ask yourself, what is best for the Caribbean and by extension your country."
Jack Warner's statement on release of CFU meeting tape.
ctntworld.com.
It is rather interesting that on the very day that Caribbean Football Union (CFU) delegates are to appear before the disciplinary committee of FIFA that a video tape of this nature is released for international viewing on the World Wide Web.
The release of this video is tantamount to contempt because it seeks to influence international opinion against what is clearly a conspiracy against the delegates of the Caribbean Football Union. Moreover there are lot more questions which the FIFA should answer from this convenient revelation.
The Caribbean delegates are currently in Zurich and are actively involved in disciplinary proceedings established by the FIFA so this leak is clearly sub judicious and contrary to the very principles of law and justice.
Regretfully, this is what defines the FIFA; a perceived right to do all in its power, right or wrong, to defend its own.
The Caribbean Football Union delegates must be found guilty if Sepp Blatter is to appear as an honourable man weeding out corruption from the FIFA. So the tiny Union in the Caribbean must be the scapegoat; and a team of officials, all Swiss and strategically located along the FIFA's hierarchical strata is in place to ensure that their Swiss brother, Sepp Blatter, emerges with his integrity intact.
As Chuck Blazer has just "found out", it is not a matter of coincidence that the Chairman of the FIFA Ethics Committee, Claudio Sulser, is Swiss. It is not a matter of chance that the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, Marcel Mathier, also happens to be Swiss. It is not through any democratic process that the same Marcel Mathier happened to have been Sepp Blatter's Swiss lawyer. It is therefore not uncanny that Bin Hammam was charged with corruption prior to the FIFA elections to protect the interest of another Swiss, the unopposed President of FIFA.
Clearly, the Swiss seems to have a morality of its own.
Gentlemen permit me a few more moments of blissful silence. In the near future, all will be revealed. FIFA cannot be allowed to continue tarnishing the images and characters of good men. For it is clear that the FIFA is determined to stop at nothing as they seek to destroy, to extirpate those they have defined as their enemies from any sphere of influence.
However, truth crushed to the ground will rise again. At the end of the day, the truth will prevail. In time, truth will always arise.
It is informative to note that :
- never before has a covert video been made, let alone been published, in the history of CFU
- it is clear that those who recorded the meeting and subsequently made certain that the video went global, are engaged in entrapment
- it is therefore not paranoia nor mindless talk to speak of a conspiracy by those who had an agenda: the one to weaken the CONCACAF through its largest voting bloc, the CFU, and thus ascertain that Caribbean men and women are excluded from the decision-making process in CONCACAF and FIFA in the future.
Respectfully submitted
Jack Warner
Former FIFA Vice President