PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – Embattled football mogul Austin ‘Jack’ Warner returned here Thursday night for the first time since being slapped with a suspension by FIFA’s ethics committee, warning that attacks against him were really aimed at the wider Caribbean fraternity.
A minister in the Trinidad and Tobago government, Warner was greeted by several government ministers and supporters, some armed with placards reading “We support Jack Warner”.
He told supporters that the allegations made against him “were much bigger than Jack Warner”, claiming they were against the entire Caribbean football federation.
“I will give everything I have to uphold the Caribbean,” Warner vowed.
Football’s world’s governing body, FIFA, on Sunday suspended Warner pending an investigation into bribery allegations.
Warner and former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam have been accused of offering US$40 000 to national associations of the Caribbean Football Union at a meeting here on May 10 and 11, in return for their votes in the FIFA presidential election last Wednesday.
“I must maintain I did no wrong,” Warner told supporters.
The CFU president, who has been suspended as CONCACAF president pending the investigation, has protested his innocence from the outset and pledged to defend his credibility.
He also defended himself against political attacks and calls for him to resign his cabinet post.
“I understand my critics. I would have preferred if their criticism was not motivated by blood lust or malice. They are smelling blood and I say I understand this but I do not accept this,” charged Warner.