… GFF’s Colin Klass provisionally suspended
ZURICH, Switzerland (CMC) – Football’s world governing body, FIFA, on Thursday launched an ethics investigation into 16 officials from the Caribbean Football Union, stemming from bribery allegations coming out of a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago last May. Among the 16 named by FIFA is Guyana Football Federation president and CFU vice-president, Colin Klass who has been provisionally suspended while the investigation is ongoing.
Richard Groden, general secretary of the T&T Football Federation, has also been listed by FIFA along with officials from the Barbados Football Association, the St Kitts Nevis Football Association, St Vincent and Grenadines FA and the St Lucia FA, all Eastern Caribbean members.
“The FIFA Ethics Committee … opened ethics proceedings against 16 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials in regard to apparent violations of the Code of Ethics connected to the investigation of the cases related to the special meeting of the CFU held in Trinidad & Tobago on May 10 and 11, 2011,” a FIFA statement said.
Former FBI chief Louis Freeh, who also carried out earlier investigations in corruption allegations which led to the life ban on Asian Football chief Mohamed bin Hammam, has also been engaged to conduct the probe.
Ethics committee member Judge Robert T. Torres will oversee and direct the investigation.
“The Ethics Committee will contact the 16 officials to arrange further interviews in connection with these proceedings,” FIFA said.
“It is important to note that the investigations are still ongoing, and that it is therefore possible that further proceedings could be opened in the future.”
The full list of officials named by FIFA are: David Hinds and Mark Forde of Barbados; Franka Pickering and Aubrey Liburd of the British Virgin Islands; David Frederick of the Cayman Islands; Osiris Guzman and  Felix Ledesma of the Dominican Republic; Klass and Noel Adonis of Guyana; Yves Jean-Bart of Haiti; Anthony Johnson of St Kitts and Nevis; Patrick Mathurin of St Lucia; Joseph Delves and Ian Hypolite of St Vincent; Groden of T&T and Hillaren Frederick of the US Virgin Islands.
The latest move comes after CONCACAF senior vice-president Lisle Austin was this week slapped with a one-year ban for taking his suspension as acting CONCACAF president to the Bahamas law courts.
FIFA had indicated their intention to investigate Caribbean officials after finding bin Hammam, a former FIFA presidential candidate, guilty of corruption charges last month.
In announcing the life ban, acting ethics committee chairman Petrus Damaseb said the committee had asked FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke to initiate a fresh probe.
“The evidence before us showed that they are other people who need to explain certain things about what took place and that must be further investigated,” Damaseb said last month.
“We (ethics committee) do not have the competence to initiate and to pursue investigations, that’s within the executive agencies of FIFA.”
Bin Hammam and former FIFA vice-president Trinidadian Jack Warner were both accused of offering US$40 000 cash bribes to CFU members at the meeting in Trinidad, in exchange for their votes at the June 1 FIFA presidential elections.
Warner tendered a shock resignation from FIFA in June and as a result, had all charges against him dropped.
During the investigation into bribery allegations, several CFU members refused to cooperate and claimed they had not been offered any monies.
CFU, the governing body for Caribbean football, comprises 30 members.