By Andrew Warshaw
June 15 – Yet another twist in the ongoing FIFA bribery scandal emerged today when it was revealed that CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer has been questioned by FIFA’s Ethics Committee after complaints were made against him by Caribbean associations.
Blazer was the person who sparked the ethics committee probe that led to the suspension of fellow FIFA Executive Committee members Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam on bribery charges, pending a full inquiry.
Efforts to remove him from his post by Warner supporters failed but in what appears to be another attempt to bring him down, complaints have now been made about remarks Blazer is alleged to have made in a meeting in Zurich in May.
The official complaint was made in a letter to the Ethics Committee signed by 11 heads of Caribbean federations but does not refer in any way to the bribery issues.
The letter said Blazer made “statements of contempt and slander that served to impugn the integrity, discriminate against and infringe upon the personal rights” of CONCACAF members.
“The statement of Mr Blazer flouts the principle of a person being innocent before being proven guilty,” it adds.
The Zurich meeting, which was closed to the media but which insideworldfootball attempted to attend, came just before the FIFA election vote and followed the infamous dossier passed to the ethics committee containing allegations of bribery relating to a meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad, organised by Warner on Asian soccer chief Bin Hammam’s behalf.
The letter alleges Blazer used “contemptuous and denigratory words since all the persons who were singled out were of a specific race”.
The dossier claims Warner and Bin Hammam offered Caribbean delegates $40,000 (£24,250) each to vote for Bin Hammam against Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential election.
Bin Hammam pulled out just as the allegations became public knowledge.
The official investigation, being led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, was to begin later today, with Caribbean representatives being individually interviewed in the Bahamas pending a final decision over whether to ban Warner and Bin Hammam – and possibly several others – for a lengthy period.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1732674564labto1732674564ofdlr1732674564owedi1732674564sni@w1732674564ahsra1732674564w.wer1732674564dna1732674564
Related stories
June 2011: Exclusive – Plot thickens as at least four more Caribbean countries come out of the woodwork in FIFA bribery scandal
June 2011: Investigators to travel to Bahamas to investigate FIFA bribery scandal
June 2011: Business as normal at CONCACAF, claims Blazer
June 2011: FIFA hire Spook to investigate Bin Hammam and Warner
June 2011: CONCACAF acting President suspended as Blazer row continues