Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner is confident that he will be cleared of the bribery allegations that led to his suspension from FIFA once he reveals details of an e-mail exchange with Blatter. Warner, who returned home late Thursday, says he will make the revelations tomorrow when he addresses supporters in his Chaguanas West constituency, after a motorcade. He is pledging to continue hitting FIFA with the "football tsunami" he promised last week. At a media briefing at Piarco International Airport shortly after his arrival, Warner told reporters: "The contents of the e-mail are crystal clear as to what transpired."
Tomorrow, Warner will stage a motorcade in commemoration of Indian Arrival Day, starting at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary from 8 am and ending at the Jubilee Recreation Ground, Felicity, at 1 pm. He will deliver a speech at the end of the motorcade which will be carried live on six radio stations. Warner's latest statements on the bribery scandal came just hours ahead of reports in the British media that new witnesses have come forward with evidence against him and another suspended FIFA executive member, Mohammed bin Hammam. The British media are also reporting that two other Fifa executive committee members travelled to the meeting in T&T at which bin Hammam addressed members of the CFU. Worawi Makudi, of Thailand, and V Manilal Fernando, of Sri Lanka, who was appointed to the executive committee this week, are reported to have accompanied bin Hammam to the special conference in Port-of-Spain. It is unclear in what capacity they attended.
FIFA has hired former FBI director Louis Freeh's investigations agency to gather evidence, after allegations that bin Hammam and Warner offered US$40,000 bribes to voters during the football body's presidential campaign last month. FIFA announced yesterday that Freeh Group International (FGI) Europe was "mandated" to help its Ethics Committee, which would summon the two suspended senior officials to a full inquiry due to be held next month. "This company will work under the direct supervision and responsibility of Judge Robert T Torres, member of the Ethics Committee, who has been entrusted by the committee with supervising and directing the investigation," FIFA said in a statement. Freeh founded FGI after leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1993-2001. His investigators' work will include interviewing Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials who allegedly were offered cash bribes at a meeting held here in Trinidad and Tobago to back bin Hammam's FIFA presidential bid.
Bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy last Sunday, hours before FIFA's ethics panel provisionally suspended him and Warner, pending a full hearing. Both men denied arranging bribes, and Bin Hamman alleged that supporters of FIFA president Sepp Blatter conspired to remove him from the election contest. Blatter, who was cleared by the ethics panel of turning a blind eye to intended corruption, was re-elected unopposed on Wednesday. One of Warner's long-time Caribbean allies, Horace Burrell, of Jamaica, denied that his island's governing body was involved. "Let me state categorically that the (Jamaica federation) was not offered, neither received any funds prior to, during nor after the CFU meeting held May 10-11 in Trinidad," Burrell said in a statement.
The scandal broke when Chuck Blazer, the United States' representative on FIFA's ruling panel, delivered a file of evidence, including witness statements from four CFU member countries. Blazer said "much more evidence" would emerge from Caribbean officials, who were advised in Zurich to hand over the money to FIFA and assist the inquiry, or face being placed under suspicion. Since Freeh opened the investigation last week, several national associations present at a meeting in Trinidad, at which $1 million in bribes are alleged to have been offered, have made contact. Freeh has begun interviewing witnesses who attended the CFU meeting, including those who provided statements and sworn affidavits to the original investigation ordered by Blazer.
Former US federal prosecutor John Collins compiled a report based on witness statements from seven Caribbean football officials from four countries, as well as testimony from Blazer. Blazer is expected to be interviewed by Freeh, as well as Anton Sealey, president of the Bahamas Football Association, who was first to raise the alleged bribes with Blazer. New witnesses have come forward since Blazer warned members of the CFU earlier this week to return any money they may have been offered, or face investigation. Officials are said to have been offered $40,000 in brown envelopes in exchange for their vote in the presidential election.
Warner has submitted a lengthy defence of his conduct, dismissing the allegations as a fabrication. His statement is accompanied by supporting statements from 13 Caribbean nations who say that the allegations are false. Those statements will be closely scrutinised by Freeh.