Now that the dust is finally settling on the footballing career of former FIFA Vice-President Austin Jack Warner, it would appear that the devastating tsunami that he promised to unleash in the wake of his suspension in Swit-zerland turned out to be nothing more than a typical North Coast wave, which, while wetting a few heads and exciting some children in the process, was of no consequence in the end whatsoever. We must pause and give Jack his jacket though. There can be no disputing the immense contribution made to Caribbean and T&T football by the now dethroned Concacaf president. Under Warner's stewardship, Concacaf's automatic qualification places for the FIFA World Cup rose from two to three; with a fourth also becoming possible via the playoff system. Lest we forget, the latter was the route by which T&T qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Warner's lofty position at the head of the world footballing fraternity would have also been key in convincing the internationally acclaimed coach, Leo Beenhakker, to accept such a challenging and unknown project in 2005, when he took over as Soca Warriors' head coach. Following Haiti's devastating earthquake 18 months ago, under Warner's insistence, the Carib-bean Football Union sent a delegation to the stricken country to offer both moral and financial support to our Haitian brethren; standing shoulder to shoulder with them in their time of need. This was a magnanimous gesture which I am sure would never be forgotten by those associated with the ''rouge et bleu'' of Haitian football. All that being said, however, it holds true that a people who value their privileges over their principles soon lose both. It must be a very naive, one-eyed man, indeed, who believes that Jack Warner is the archetypal philanthropist, and nothing else.
There are many though, who, unwavering in their support for the beloved Chaguanas MP, will seek to blame any and everyone-apart from Jack Warner himself-for the man's ultimate demise. Some, I am told, have even taken to referring to Warner as some kind of modern-day Martin Luther King, who took on the forces of Europe's racist imperialists and fought them tooth and nail. Whatever floats their boat I suppose. Whatever Warner and his deluded supporters may claim, however, in the end it was not the English media, the English Football Association, FIFA hypocrisy, international racism, or any other fanciful global conspiracy which did it for the FIFA man. Neither was it anything to do with the PNM, COP, Keith Rowley, Basdeo Panday, or even Patrick Manning's seer woman.
In the closed ranks of the FIFA cabal, there is a one-for-all, and all-for-one attitude. When time and again allegations of impropriety surfaced against Jack Warner, it surely must have been with Sepp Blatter's perpetual blessing that FIFA continually swept them under the carpet. Blatter and Warner were said to be as thick as thieves-no pun intended, and I have even seen a photo, posted on Facebook by a Warner groupie, showing Sepp Blatter chilling at a party in Warner's Centre of Excellence. How cool is that? So what exactly it was that Mohamed bin Hamman whispered into Jack's ear that caused him to "ketch ah vaps," abandon his long-standing ally Sepp Blatter, and jump into the Qatari's lap, will probably forever remain a secret. But once Warner's apparent move to unseat the president of FIFA became public, and more importantly failed, he would have known that, despite all his public blustering, the metaphorical bullet to the back of the head would not be long in coming.
Caught out in the full glare of international media headlights, Warner's deer understandably became more and more confused over time. Firstly, he proclaimed that Blatter needed to be stopped at all cost, then, a few days before the the FIFA election, Warner changed tack and urged his minions in the CFU to give Blatter their full support after all. In the interim, it also was stated that the payments made at the Hyatt were simply a reimbursement of delegates' travel expenses. Why bother with the hassle of a bank transfer when a stuffed brown envelope containing US$40,000 would do? Later on, we heard that "gift-giving" was in fact all part of the FIFA cultural ethic, and was nothing to be ashamed of, or frowned upon at all. Ultimately, Sepp Blatter's re-election as FIFA president on June 1 was the final nail in Jack Warner's football coffin. In FIFA's top echelons, Jack Warner had become persona non grata. Warner must have realised that Blatter would never again turn his back while in the same room with him.
His FIFA position had become untenable and Jack Warner knew it. And, as local calls grew for an investigation to be launched into possible breaches of customs and excise law, Warner must have calculated that one ministerial job, albeit at the paltry sum of $1 a month, was still better than no job at all. Jack Warner is by all accounts a very capable Minister of Works-the Transport portfolio now having gone elsewhere-and I expect him to throw himself into what is now his only vocation, with determined gusto. Do not be surprised though, if, by dint of his remit, he decides to erect a 15-foot wall around the Hyatt Regency on Wrightson Road, obstructing the entrance from all view... For he must now wish that he had never set eyes on that bloody place.
Now that the dust is finally settling on the footballing career of former FIFA Vice-President Austin Jack Warner, it would appear that the devastating tsunami that he promised to unleash in the wake of his suspension in Swit-zerland turned out to be nothing more than a typical North Coast wave, which, while wetting a few heads and exciting some children in the process, was of no consequence in the end whatsoever. We must pause and give Jack his jacket though. There can be no disputing the immense contribution made to Caribbean and T&T football by the now dethroned Concacaf president. Under Warner's stewardship, Concacaf's automatic qualification places for the FIFA World Cup rose from two to three; with a fourth also becoming possible via the playoff system. Lest we forget, the latter was the route by which T&T qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Warner's lofty position at the head of the world footballing fraternity would have also been key in convincing the internationally acclaimed coach, Leo Beenhakker, to accept such a challenging and unknown project in 2005, when he took over as Soca Warriors' head coach. Following Haiti's devastating earthquake 18 months ago, under Warner's insistence, the Carib-bean Football Union sent a delegation to the stricken country to offer both moral and financial support to our Haitian brethren; standing shoulder to shoulder with them in their time of need. This was a magnanimous gesture which I am sure would never be forgotten by those associated with the ''rouge et bleu'' of Haitian football. All that being said, however, it holds true that a people who value their privileges over their principles soon lose both. It must be a very naive, one-eyed man, indeed, who believes that Jack Warner is the archetypal philanthropist, and nothing else.
There are many though, who, unwavering in their support for the beloved Chaguanas MP, will seek to blame any and everyone-apart from Jack Warner himself-for the man's ultimate demise. Some, I am told, have even taken to referring to Warner as some kind of modern-day Martin Luther King, who took on the forces of Europe's racist imperialists and fought them tooth and nail. Whatever floats their boat I suppose.
Whatever Warner and his deluded supporters may claim, however, in the end it was not the English media, the English Football Association, FIFA hypocrisy, international racism, or any other fanciful global conspiracy which did it for the FIFA man. Neither was it anything to do with the PNM, COP, Keith Rowley, Basdeo Panday, or even Patrick Manning's seer woman.
In the closed ranks of the FIFA cabal, there is a one-for-all, and all-for-one attitude. When time and again allegations of impropriety surfaced against Jack Warner, it surely must have been with Sepp Blatter's perpetual blessing that FIFA continually swept them under the carpet. Blatter and Warner were said to be as thick as thieves-no pun intended, and I have even seen a photo, posted on Facebook by a Warner groupie, showing Sepp Blatter chilling at a party in Warner's Centre of Excellence. How cool is that? So what exactly it was that Mohamed bin Hamman whispered into Jack's ear that caused him to "ketch ah vaps," abandon his long-standing ally Sepp Blatter, and jump into the Qatari's lap, will probably forever remain a secret. But once Warner's apparent move to unseat the president of FIFA became public, and more importantly failed, he would have known that, despite all his public blustering, the metaphorical bullet to the back of the head would not be long in coming.
Caught out in the full glare of international media headlights, Warner's deer understandably became more and more confused over time. Firstly, he proclaimed that Blatter needed to be stopped at all cost, then, a few days before the the FIFA election, Warner changed tack and urged his minions in the CFU to give Blatter their full support after all. In the interim, it also was stated that the payments made at the Hyatt were simply a reimbursement of delegates' travel expenses. Why bother with the hassle of a bank transfer when a stuffed brown envelope containing US$40,000 would do? Later on, we heard that "gift-giving" was in fact all part of the FIFA cultural ethic, and was nothing to be ashamed of, or frowned upon at all. Ultimately, Sepp Blatter's re-election as FIFA president on June 1 was the final nail in Jack Warner's football coffin. In FIFA's top echelons, Jack Warner had become persona non grata. Warner must have realised that Blatter would never again turn his back while in the same room with him.
His FIFA position had become untenable and Jack Warner knew it. And, as local calls grew for an investigation to be launched into possible breaches of customs and excise law, Warner must have calculated that one ministerial job, albeit at the paltry sum of $1 a month, was still better than no job at all. Jack Warner is by all accounts a very capable Minister of Works-the Transport portfolio now having gone elsewhere-and I expect him to throw himself into what is now his only vocation, with determined gusto. Do not be surprised though, if, by dint of his remit, he decides to erect a 15-foot wall around the Hyatt Regency on Wrightson Road, obstructing the entrance from all view... For he must now wish that he had never set eyes on that bloody place.
Kito Johnson, a Trinidadian,
is a freelance journalist based
in the United Kingdom
