Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that US prosecutors had overreached their boundaries when they applied United States laws to groups of people, many of whom were foreign nationals, who allegedly defrauded FIFA, a foreign organisation based in Switzerland. The ruling is of great interest to football fans in the Caribbean, since it appears as though, former FIFA vice-president (1997 – 2011) and past president (1990 – 2011) of CONCACAF – the entity that runs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean – Trinidadian Austin ‘Jack’ Warner is off the hook, once again, from allegations of corruption.
In an interview with Radio Station i95.5 FM on the same day Warner stated, “My lawyers have told me that my nightmare is over and I have every reason to believe what they have said. They are now working to pursue the matter further to see what redress I am entitled to. They have told me that my nightmare is over because the Supreme Court is not a court that you can appeal against. It is the final court in the US.”
The “nightmare” brought upon Warner by the United States government were charges of bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering during his time as an executive of FIFA. Warner, who had been suspended by FIFA in 2011, was subsequently banned for life from all football related activities in 2015, the same year when the US government charges were laid. Ever since the accusations were made, Warner, who was a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee for nearly three decades (1983 – 2011) had valiantly fought tooth and nail to avoid extradition to the US to face the charges, while, of course, steadfastly maintaining his innocence. In November 2022, London’s Privy Council, the last line of appeal for many Commonwealth countries, unanimously dismissed Warner’s appeal, ruling that he could be extradited to face the corruption charges.
Suspicion and rumours had surrounded FIFA’s 2010 decision to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar. It was an unprecedented step since the ruling football body had never determined the venue for more than one tournament at one time. In 2020, a US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment stated that bribes had been paid to soccer officials to secure their votes for hosting rights. The DOJ alleged that Warner received US$5 million to vote for Russia, which had been wired through several shell companies prior to being cleared in corresponding US bank accounts.
The corruption charges against Warner and 17 other FIFA officials, several of whom were arrested in Zurich before the annual FIFA Congress, had been built around evidence collected by Warner’s former CONCACAF colleague, Charles ‘Chuck’ Blazer, the most notorious FBI informant in sports history. Blazer, who served as CONCACAF General Secretary (1990 – 2011) and was the first American in almost 50 years to sit on FIFA’s Executive Committee (1996 – 2013), was nabbed by the FBI and the IRS for fraud, money laundering and tax evasion in 2011. In exchange for immunity, Blazer agreed to the Feds installing a microphone in his key chain in order to gather evidence. (The Chuck Blazer affair is captured in fascinating detail in “American Huckster” by Mary Papenfuss and Teri Thompson [2016] ).
Allegations of corruption have dogged Jack Warner for a long time, two of which stem from the 2006 World Cup. The first allegation was that Warner and his family, through their private company, Simpaul, a travel and holiday enterprise, had made a handsome profit on their TT$30,000 tour packages to the World Cup hosted by Germany. FIFA’s auditors Ernst & Young estimated that the Warner family had made at least U$1 million from reselling match tickets, which Warner had ordered on behalf of the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation (TTFF). Although the FIFA Ethics Committee criticised Warner for abusing his position and failing to declare his business interests, he was not relieved of his FIFA post. It is important to remember that Warner wielded considerable influence within FIFA, allegedly controlling the voting blocs for CONCACAF, 41 votes, and Africa (Confederation Africaine de Football), 54 votes, thus serving as the virtual kingmaker for former FIFA president Sepp Blatter (1998 – 2015).
And then there was the dispute between the Trinidad footballers and the TTFF over the World Cup bonus and sponsorship pact, which had been brokered by TTFF special advisor, Warner. The 2006 team, the first from the twin island republic to get to the finals, were initially offered TT$5,600 each by Warner in early October 2006. The government later revealed that the TTFF had received in excess of TT$173 million from the event. The 16-member Soca Warriors squad rejected the paltry sum and sought arbitration at the Sport Dispute Resolution Panel in London in May 2008, seeking TT$1.76 million each, a total sum of TT$44 million. Although the panel ruled in their favour, the TTFF never honoured the agreement and it was left to an embarrassed Trinidad and Tobago Government to compensate the 2006 national heroes in July 2014, eight years later, since Warner, the broker, had stiffed the footballers.
While Warner may be out of the woods as far as the US charges are concerned – well, he now has the gall to threaten legal action – there is still the outstanding dispute over the ownership of the Dr Joao Havelange (former Brazilian FIFA President 1974 – 1998) Centre of Excellence in Macoya, Trinidad. Warner and his wife Maureen, along with two companies they own, Renraw Investments Ltd and CCAM & Co Ltd, Warner’s accountant Kenny Rampersad and his accounting firm, are facing a US$37.7 million lawsuit from CONCACAF over the ownership of the lucrative property, which features a swimming complex, restaurants, a 44-room hotel, conference facilities, a gym and the Marvin Lee Stadium. The dispute arose shortly after Warner’s successor at CONCACAF, Caymanian Jeffrey Webb (who, ironically, was charged in the 2015 scandal, and whose sentencing has now been postponed 14 times) instituted an integrity investigation against him and Chuck Blazer.
In defence of the claim, Warner, now 79 years old, has stated that he could not recall the facts surrounding the deal due to CONCACAF’s delay in bringing the claim. He staunchly denies any misappropriation of funds. In 2019, in a separate action, US District Court Judge William Kuntz granted CONCACAF a default judgment of US$79 million after Warner failed to defend the allegations of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from the entity.
Unfortunately, Jack Warner is not an anomaly in Caribbean sports. There are many more men of his ilk, who are involved in various sports at the highest level solely because they can derive immense personal financial gain. Sadly, most will never be held accountable for their actions.
