Jack Warne, Former Vice President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has taken a swipe at the US government over its handling of the corruption saga bedevilling the World football governing body, claiming that the charges it levied against him and other FIFA officials were motivated by the desire of the American to host the World Cup.
The former FIFA vice president and president of Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) was arrested last Wednesday by police in Trinidad and Tobago as part of the sting operations that saw dozens of other FIFA executives detained in Zurich, Switzerland over corruption and bribery charges.
Though, Mr. Warner has been released after paying $400,000 in bail, he still maintains his innocence, claiming that the crackdown was not altruistic.
“All of this stems from a lost bid to host the 2022 World Cup. They lost to Qatar, a small country, a Muslim country… No country in the world has divine right to host the World Cup,” declared the 72-year-old, who is one of nine FIFA officials indicted on corruption charges by Swiss and US authorities.
The former Caribbean Football Union president also questioned the rationale behind the crackdown on FIFA top shots barely two days before FIFA election. “If I was so bad and if FIFA was so bad, how come the head of FIFA is not?,” he asked referring to Sepp Blatter’s election on Friday for a fifth term.
Warner delivered his vituperations against the US in an eight-minute Facebook video in which he cited a published article from the satirical website ‘The Onion’. In the video, the embattled former FIFA chieftain holds up a copy of The Onion spoof headlined “FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in United States.”
By Olisemeka Obeche
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