Austin "Jack" Warner (born January 26, 1943) is a Trinidad and Tobago football executive and businessman and a FIFA Vice-President and CONCACAF President. A former school teacher (history), he is the owner of Joe Public F.C., a professional football club based in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago.^[1]

Warner has been a member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 1983, and CONCACAF President since 1990. His Presidential term will end in 2011.^[2]

In October 2007 Warner was appointed United National Congress Alliance chairman and co-leader, to lead the party into Trinidad and Tobago's 2007 General Election.^[3] Warner was elected as the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West. The UNC-A won 15 of 41 seats.

Contents 1 Corruption 1.1 Black market ticket sales 1.2 Request for personal payments 2 Controversy 2.1 Trinidad and Tobago 2006 World Cup bonuses 2.2 England World Cup bid 2.3 Dwight Yorke 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Corruption

[edit] Black market ticket sales

Warner has been accused of corruption on BBC's Panorama for repeatedly taking advantage of his position for financial gain. FIFA's auditors, Ernst & Young, estimated that his family made a profit of at least $1 million from reselling 2006 World Cup tickets that Warner had ordered.^[4][5]

Minutes of FIFA’s executive committee indicate that a fine of almost $1 million, equal to the expected profiteering, was imposed on the family.^[6] Despite numerous reminders from FIFA, only $250,000 has been paid.^[7]

[edit] Request for personal payments

After Trinidad and Tobago visited Scotland for the friendly match on May 30, 2004 at Easter Road, Edinburgh, Jack Warner asked SFA President John McBeth for the cheque for the game to be made out to him personally and not the FA of Trinidad and Tobago. McBeth refused to issue the cheque to Warner. Warner also approached several members of staff at the Scottish Football Association in an attempt to get the money due to the T&T FA.^{[8] [9]}

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Trinidad and Tobago 2006 World Cup bonuses

Before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Warner, as special advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, brokered a deal between the Federation and the players on Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup team to share the proceeds from their participation in the World Cup. After the tournament the Federation declared revenue of TT$18.25 million, costs of TT$17.9 million and offered the players a split of TT$5,644.08 per player. The players rejected this figure, disputing the Federation's numbers. Warner criticized the players for refusing to accept the T&TFF's unaudited statement, saying “What Trinidad is suffering from is from a situation whereby 16 or 18 players are holding a country and a federation to ransom because of greed.”^[10][11]

Shaka Hislop, the interim president of the Football Players Association of Trinidad and Tobago responded with a letter to Warner writing “You have continually proven yourself heavily biased and opinionated in this matter.”

The Trinidad and Tobago government later revealed that the Federation received in excess of TT$173 million for their part in the tournament in Germany.

The T&TFF proposed that the bonus dispute be heard before the UK Sports Dispute Resolution Panel and the players agreed. Arbitrator Ian Mill QC heard the case and ruled that Warner had “the authority of the TTFA to commit it to financial transactions" and that the players were entitled to 50 per cent of the FIFA World Cup participation money and the commercial revenues gained from Trinidad and Tobago's qualification, as well as half the net income from World Cup warm-up matches.^[12]

The players' lawyer, Michael Townley, said "At the moment, the players have not received a single cent" and alleged that the T&TFF defaulted on its payment to the arbitration body.^[13]

[edit] England World Cup bid

Warner once again caused controversy in an interview with the BBC about England's chances of holding the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He asserted that "England invented the sport but has never made any impact on world football" despite being one of only seven nations to ever lift the world cup, "England is an irritant", and that "Nobody in Europe likes England". Furthermore Warner proposed that, if the World Cup were to be held in Europe, it should be held in Italy, Spain, or France (countries that last hosted the competition in 1990, 1982 and 1998 respectively). He said that he would "battle to bring...the tournament to his region"^[14] where the U.S. last hosted the finals in 1994. Mexico hosted in 1970 and 1986.^[15][16]

However, on February 14, 2008, Warner retracted this stance. England's Football Association agreed to visit Trinidad and Tobago to play a friendly against the Trinidad and Tobago national football team on the condition that Warner apologize.^[17]

Warner argued that, "The time has come. The fact is they invented this sport [...] They last held the World Cup 42 years ago. That is almost two to three generations. There are guys in England who have never seen a World Cup on English soil." Warner maintained that the choice of England would not be popular among mainland Europe though.^[18]

[edit] Dwight Yorke

In September 2008 after Dwight Yorke had withdrawn from the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Warner attacked Sunderland and Roy Keane. In a letter leaked to the press, Warner accused Keane of disrespecting "small countries" and having a "mean streak".^[19][20] Keane responded by repugning the allegation, accusing Warner of being a "clown" and a "disgrace", and insisted that Yorke was retired from international football.^[21]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Soca Warriors still chasing World Cup cash Jennings, Andrew (30 November 2008). The Sunday Herald
• The house that Jack built: From "villain" to Godfather FIFA Vice President Austin "Jack" Warner turns misfortune into dollars. 2000. Camille Moreno, Trinidad Guardian.