By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 6 – Chuck Blazer, the larger than life American who blew the whistle on the 2011 cash-for-votes scandal that prompted the biggest anti-corruption reform process in the history of FIFA, has now been banned himself.=
In an extraordinary case of the accuser becoming the accused, the tables have turned dramatically on the former CONCACAF general secretary whose revelations two years ago led to a spate of Caribbean officials being sanctioned by FIFA but who has now been punished by FIFA’s ethics committee after being accused last month of embezzling at least $21m.
Blazer, 68, has been suspended provisionally for 90 days from all football activities in the fall-out from the damning report into the way he and Jack Warner managed CONCACAF’s finances for the best part of two decades.
In one sense, Blazer got in first by quitting last December but he remains, technically at least, on FIFA’s executive committee until the full Congress in Mauritius on May 30-31 when compatriot Sunil Gulati takes his place.
A statement from FIFA said: “The chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, Hans-Joachim Eckert, has decided to provisionally ban FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for a maximum period of 90 days.
“The decision was taken following a request made by the acting deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Robert Torres, based on the fact that various breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics appear to have been committed by Chuck Blazer.”
“The investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee previously opened investigation proceedings against Chuck Blazer in response to the final report of the CONCACAF Integrity Committee. The CONCACAF general secretary, Enrique Sanz, asked FIFA to assume jurisdiction in ‘view of the serious alleged misconduct’ and the implications for FIFA.
“The chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Michael J Garcia, declined to participate in this investigation due to the fact that he holds the same nationality as Chuck Blazer.”
Throughout his time within FIFA’s inner sanctum, Blazer had been one of the organisation’s most canny and recognisable figures, often happy to court the media at important events like World Cup ballots and key elections.
He became a household name when he blew the whistle on a raft of Caribbean CONCACAF members who took cash payments during that notorious conference in Trinidad that was ostensibly called to hear Mohamed bin Hammam lobby for support against Sepp Blatter in the FIFA presidential campaign.
Blazer always insisted he was clean but last year, at their conference in Budapest, CONCACAF members were furious when his own alleged financial misdemeanours were exposed. An investigation was ordered by the new CONCACAF regime, leading to the recent explosive report produced by retired judge David Simmons which denounced both Blazer and Warner as “fraudulent in their management” of the confederation which covers north and central America and the Caribbean. Investigators said Blazer had abused his power by enriching himself at the expense of his own organisation.
Blazer has always denied any wrongdoing but cynical observers will doubtless conclude there was never any chance of FIFA allowing him to sit on the executive committee in Mauritius while reform proposals were being scrutinised.
While he had – and still has – friends and enemies in equal measure, Blazer’s contribution to the progress of football in his own country cannot be under-estimated. He played a huge role in helping the United States clinch the World Cup finals in 1994 and was a big player in the launch of Major League Soccer.
Now, however, he is barred not only from the FIFA executive committee but also from his role as deputy chairman of FIFA’s football committee and a number of other key positions.
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