Haiti earthquake funds controlled by Jack Warner unaccounted for

By Andrew Warshaw

February 16 – Funds donated for the Haiti earthquake fund, but which never arrived, were paid into a bank account controlled by former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (pictured), according to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF).

In a new and startling development implicating the controversial Warner, who resigned last summer over the FIFA cash-for-votes scandal, some $750,000 (£475,000/€572,000) of emergency aid money has gone missing since it was donated two years ago.

FIFA have frozen funding to the TTFF until the situation is clarified.

According to reports, when Warner was special adviser to the TTFF – like Haiti a member both of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the Caribbean Football Union – $250,000 (£158,000/€191,000) from FIFA and $500,000 (£317,000/€381,000) from the Korean Football Association was paid into an account, which it is claimed, only Warner had access to.

The TTFF say they “surrendered their authority” to Warner, who refused to explain what happened to the money.

“The TTFF acknowledges it is aware of funds made available by both FIFA and the Korean Football Federation for the football victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010,” a statement said.

“However, we are unable to confirm the quantum of funds received, as these monies did not go into the account used by the TTFF administration for its day-to-day operations, but instead to the TTFF’s Local Organising Committee account as was requested by Mr Jack Warner, the former vice-president of FIFA and special adviser to the TTFF.

“The current executive is unaware of how these funds were disbursed or utilised and is awaiting the promised audited accounts from Mr Warner.”

The statement added: “We never questioned his authority or actions and are now in a position of despair as we are starved of funds by FIFA until full disclosure, which we are unable to provide without Mr Warner’s input.

“Sadly Mr Warner seems disinclined to comply with our repeated requests.”

Warner, former president of CONCACAF and now a Government Minister in his native Trinidad, gave an inconclusive response to the claims.

“I have nothing to answer to anybody,” he said on local television.

“Who wants to make allegations, make allegations.

“Ask yourselves, as objective members of the media, ‘Why now?’

“And after you get why now, just join the dots and see.”

Interestingly, Lord Triesman (pictured above), the ex-England Football Association chairman and former head of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, claimed last year that Warner had asked him for a £500,000 ($790,000/€602,000) donation to buy the rights to the World Cup for Haiti so that games could be shown to survivors of the earthquake.

“I was later told Jack Warner owned the television rights for Haiti,” Triesman said.

Triesman, who later resigned following a newspaper sting, told a Parliamentary Committee: “I don’t know if it is true”.

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