FIFA Vice President Jack Warner was able to completely escape disciplinary action from the FIFA Executive Committee yesterday for his questionable involvement in the ticketing sales for the 2006 World Cup Tournament, because this very committee advised him on what action to take to avoid punishment.
And on the heels of completely vindicating him after he followed their advice, the FIFA Executive Committee proceeded to reward him by awarding more tickets for local distribution, he said.
Warner's statements followed FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter's announcement yesterday that Warner had been cleared of all charges arising out of his family's ownership of Simpaul Travel Agency, the sole ticketing agent for this year's World Cup Tournament in Germany.
The FIFA Committee for Ethics and Fairplay ruled last month that Warner was guilty of a conflict of interest following an exclusive Express series which prompted Warner to request an official investigation .
The matter was referred to the Executive Committee for ruling and when this body met in Zurich, Switzerland in the past two days, they vindicated Warner, who himself was involved in the discussions.
In a telephone interview from Zurich yesterday, Warner said following the negative ruling against him last month, "he went to the Committee to ask for advice and based on the advice they gave me, I acted accordingly...I went to FIFA to ask for advice related to a conflict of interest. They said there was a conflict of interest , but up to this day they have not told me what it was. But I felt it was because of the ownership in the company and I simply, of course divested the shares of the company."
Warner last week had his name officially removed from Simpaul's as owner at the Ministry of Legal Affairs, as well as those of his wife, Maureen, and sons Daryan and Daryll.
He insisted, though, that these were not legal manoeuvres and staunchly denied that, by giving him this advice, FIFA Executive Committee had itself acted unethically.
"Simply because of the fact that the Committee said there was a conflict of interest? If I hadn't gone to them and they hadn't said so, it wouldn't have been there. Because they said that there is a conflict of interest I simply expunged the names. is there anything wrong about that?" Warner asked.
He refused to go into details about exactly what justification the Committee used to determine he was not to be punished, and instead boasted that it has even rewarded him.
"I had nothing to hide. In fact, as a consequence of today's decision, FIFA has given us even more tickets for the public now," he said.
Warner has been one of Blatter's closest allies since his appointment to the FIFA executive in 1983.