Warner says FIFA gifted him World Cup tv rights for $1…in return for supporting Sepp Blatter

(Reuters) – Former FIFA vice-president Jack  Warner said he was sold the World Cup television rights for  Trinidad and Tobago for as little as $1 in return for supporting  FIFA president Sepp Blatter in soccer elections.

Warner, who resigned from all his soccer positions in June  after he was suspended by FIFA following allegations in a  cash-for-votes scandal, issued a statement yesterday revealing  the details of the television deals.

A spokesman for FIFA said soccer’s world governing body was  “looking into” Warner’s statement and would make no further  statement in the meantime.
Warner said that he was awarded the rights for seven World  Cups at a minimal fee.

Jack Warner

For the 1998 tournament, Warner said FIFA sold them to him,  through a Mexican company, for just $1. Warner said the money he  made from selling the rights “was used primarily to assist in  the development of football in Trinidad and Tobago”.

“This was just after Blatter had won the FIFA presidency  following a most brutal campaign against Lennart Johansson, a  campaign in which (Mohamed) Bin Hammam and I played critical  roles in support of Mr. Blatter,” Warner said in the statement.

Warner has been heavily critical of the FIFA boss ever since  he resigned midway through this year as president of CONCACAF,  the regional confederation for North and Central America and the  Caribbean.

Warner was accused of having organized a meeting where Bin  Hammam, the former Asian Football Confederation president from  Qatar who was running against Blatter for the presidency, was  alleged to have distributed $40,000 in brown envelopes to  Caribbean soccer officials.

Warner and Bin Hammam have both denied the allegations  against them with Warner promising to unleash a “tsunami”  against Blatter.

In yesterday’s statement, he said he was sold the rights to  more World Cups after helping Blatter get re-elected in 2002 and  2006.

“President Blatter sold me, not the CFU (Caribbean Football  Union), the World Cup TV rights for 2002 and 2006, no doubt in  appreciation of the work I did (with Bin Hammam) for his  re-election. The sale of these rights was used to develop  Caribbean football,” Warner said in his statement.

Warner, who is the Minister of Works and Infrastructure in  Trinidad and Tobago, said the rights for the 2010 and 2014 World  Cup finals were again sold to him, but “using the CFU as the  vehicle”.

Warner said he was offered another deal this year “in  exchange for my support (and by extension the support of the CFU  and the CONCACAF) in the FIFA presidential election, FIFA again  offered me the sale of the World Cup Rights for 2018 and 2022 as  a “gift” at a nominal fee.”

Warner said FIFA also agreed to grant two $500,000 ‘Goal  Projects “as a gift to the CONCACAF to do with as CONCACAF  wished.”

Warner said FIFA had since withdrawn the television rights  for the 2014 World Cup and revoked the offers for 2018 and 2022.

Blatter was re-elected for a fourth term on June 1 and vowed  to introduce reforms in the wake of bribery and corruption  allegations.