Warner set to play key role in FIFA election after being given free passage at CONCACAF

By Duncan Mackay

March 25 – Jack Warner, who is set to play a key role in shaping who leads FIFA, will be re-elected as CONCACAF President without a challenger in the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

CONCACAF said in a statement that Trinidadian Warner, who is a FIFA vice-president, will be re-elected formally during their congress on May 3 in Miami.

“I am honoured by the trust placed in me by our members,” said Warner, who was originally elected President of CONCACAF in 1990.

“I thank each one of them for allowing me to continue working on their behalf.”

Three members of the CONCACAF Executive Committee will also be re-elected unopposed – Lisle Austin of Barbados, Mexican Football Federation President Justino Compean and Ariel Alvarado of Panama.

Compean will replace fellow Mexican Guillermo Canedo White, who decided not to seek re-election.

Also, Rafael Salguero of Guatemala will retain his place on the FIFA Executive Committee as the member from the Central American Zone after no other names were placed in nomination for the position.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hamman, his rival in the election for FIFA president, are both likely to attend the CONCACAF congress.

Chuck Blazer, the American general secretary of CONCACAF, said earlier this month that he expects the confederation will vote as a block in the FIFA Presidential election in June.

That means 68-year-old Warner, who is also currently Trinidad’s Minister of Works and Transport, could hold the keys to power as CONCACAF’s 35 votes could prove decisive in the final result.

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