Now that yesterday's FIFA election is over and Sepp Blatter has returned to the helm of the international football body, "a lot might change" regarding Jack Warner's issues, according to his attorney Om Lalla.
Lalla spoke yesterday as he prepared to welcome Warner back to T&T tonight at 10.35 pm from Zurich.
The embattled Warner has been suspended by FIFA for 30 days pending probe of bribery allegations against him and Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam. Former Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer had levelled bribery allegations against Warner and bin Hammam that they arranged for US $1 million in bribes to be offered to 25 Caribbean associations at a meeting in Trinidad over May 10-11. Both were suspended, pending investigation. Bin Hammam had been set to contest the FIFA presidency against Blatter.
However he dropped out on Sunday, leaving the way clear for Blatter to be re-elected boss of FIFA. Whistleblower Blazer, however, was fired on Tuesday by Lisle Austin, new CONCACAF head. Yesterday Lalla said he believed FIFA's Ethics Committee had started work. He added: "Now that the election is over a lot might have changed. "The pace they moved at with the probe clearly demonstrated that the election was a very important part of it, especially since Blatter was part of the inquiry. It seemed it had to be sorted out before the election. "Certainly the election seemed to be a motivating factor. By contrast the recent Treisman football inquiry in the UK where charges were made against Warner also took a month." Asked if there was any chance for Warner of rapprochement as result of Blatter's re-election, Lalla said: "Anything is possible." He could not say if Warner had spoken to Blatter.
Lalla said there was "a lot of anxiety" and the FIFA preliminary inquiry was conducted "in an expedited fashion." Now that the anxiety had been removed, Lalla said he was optimistic. He added: "It's too early to tell. A lot has happened in a short space but the recent UK issue with Lord Treisman's charges gives us a window on how this might unfold since current allegations against Warner are not dissimilar to Treisman's. "We're hoping it ought to end in the same way. There was high motivation in the UK issue-they weren't happy at losing the UK bid-as there has been in this case also." Lalla added, "It's an internal issue and there's lot more than meets the eye. There's a lot behind the scenes related to this matter.
"In taking everything into account Jack has a very good chance of succeeding." Lalla said there was a lot of personal animosity between parties and individuals since countries, like US and the UK. did not win FIFA bids. He was asked why Warner had changed his position of Monday-of saying Blatter had to be stopped-to urging regional members to support Blatter on the eve of the election. Lalla said: "Whether it was out of resignation since Blatter was the only candidate or whether he just wanted them to move on and ensure the body remained intact, I don't know." Lalla, who has filed an appeal on behalf of Warner, is awaiting a hearing date from the Ethics Committee. He said the two-pronged application sought to appeal the suspension, as well as appeal any further suspension.
He added: "Our case is really a determination of whether to proceed with the investigation. For instance, Mr Warner was given a mere 24 hours to give a written response on issues." While Warner has had issues in previous FIFA elections, Lalla said that was the first time the situation had reached that stage "with such powerful people." Lalla added: "He is the envy of a lot of countries who feel T&T should not have representation on a world forum like this, wielding that kind of power." He said Warner did not sleep after landing in Zurich since he went straight to the hearing and meetings. He added: "He has a fighting spirit and it's far better now than when the issue just started, so it has created a very optimistic atmosphere for things." For tonight's arrival, several Government ministers, as well as supporters, are going to the airport to meet Warner.