Exclusive: Plot thickens as at least four more Caribbean countries come out of the woodwork in FIFA bribery scandal

By Andrew Warshaw

June 13 – At least four more Caribbean countries have admitted they were offered thousands of dollars in cash as the plot thickens into the most explosive bribery scandal in the history of FIFA.

With the investigation into the bribes-for-votes sensation that led to the temporary suspensions of FIFA vice-president Jack Warner and Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam about to be switched from Miami to the Bahamas, insideworldfootball has learned that more and more federations who attended the infamous meeting on May 10 and 11 – where the money was allegedly paid – have now come forward and handed it back.

The countries concerned are not being named but follow last week’s frank admission by Louis Giskus, President of Surinam’s soccer association, that his FA received $40,000 (£24,000) “in $100 bills in a brown envelope” when Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members convened in Trinidad, organised by Warner.

The CFU, part of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), were in Trinidad being wooed by Bin Hammam who at the time was running against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA Presidency before pulling out.

Warner and Bin Hammam, suspended by FIFA’s Ethics Committee pending a full inquiry, deny any allegations of wrongdoing and will learn their ultimate fate at another hearing in July.

They claim they have the support of 13 Caribbean federations but the net appears to be closing in on both of them – and several others.

“We all saw the story about Surinam giving the money back and my understanding is that there are at least four more,” a reliable source close to the investigation told insideworldfootball.

“It could be as many as six.”

The initial report to FIFA by a US law firm commissioned by CONCACAF general secretary and whistleblower Chuck Blazer named four countries that had allegedly been offered $40,000 (£24,000) in cash and turned it down.

Since then both Surinam and Puerto Rico have publicly acknowledged they were offered similar inducements.

“Add these new four and you have a possible 10 of 25,” said the source.

Amid all the turmoil, attempts by Warner’s camp to remove Blazer failed, as did initial efforts to put Lisle Austin, a staunch Warner ally, in charge of CONCACAF in the interim.

Austin, banned by FIFA for allegedly breaking the rules, tried to get a civil injunction allowing him to resume his duties.

But FIFA officially endorsed Alfredo Hawit of Honduras as the acting head of the Confederation while at the same time calling for all the in-fighting to end.

The next move would appear to be individual interviews with Caribbean nations within the next 10 days, a meeting Warner says he will not attend.

He insists any suggestion of bribery is totally out of order but is gaining less and less support for the alternative view that the money, claimed to have been paid by bin Hammam, was for legitimate development projects rather than to solicit votes for the 62-year-old Qatari’s campaign against Blatter.

“Our constitution says no cash gifts, zero,” one high-ranking CONCACAF source told insideworldfootball.

“When you are putting $40,000 in cash in an envelope and handing it to people, I don’t care what you call it or what you tell them it’s for.

“It stinks and any attempt to get round it is simply a side show.”

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