Publications
Partners
Zurich - Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice-president who quit on Monday, said he’d “die first” rather than meet with former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who’s investigating allegations of bribery within the soccer body.
According to the Bloomberg website, FIFA said Warner’s resignation meant it ended its inquiry into the Trinidadian over claims he and Asian soccer head Mohamed Bin Hammam tried to bribe Caribbean officials in a presidential election.
Warner, who’d been with FIFA almost 30 years, said he’s willing to help FIFA but won’t co-operate with Freeh because of his ties to the US. The inquiry was sparked by Chuck Blazer, a US soccer official who worked directly under Warner as regional body CONCACAF’s general secretary. Blazer asked Chicago-based lawyer John Collins to compile a report detailing the allegations against Bin Hammam and Warner.
“I will die first. Not me,” Warner said in a telephone interview from Trinidad. “If FIFA wants me to co-operate I will do that but not with Freeh.”
Warner, 68, who was one of the sport’s most powerful administrators, quit from all his soccer posts, saying he’d felt undermined by officials within FIFA and been “hung out to dry.”
According to the Bloomberg website, FIFA said Warner’s resignation meant it ended its inquiry into the Trinidadian over claims he and Asian soccer head Mohamed Bin Hammam tried to bribe Caribbean officials in a presidential election.
Warner, who’d been with FIFA almost 30 years, said he’s willing to help FIFA but won’t co-operate with Freeh because of his ties to the US. The inquiry was sparked by Chuck Blazer, a US soccer official who worked directly under Warner as regional body CONCACAF’s general secretary. Blazer asked Chicago-based lawyer John Collins to compile a report detailing the allegations against Bin Hammam and Warner.
“I will die first. Not me,” Warner said in a telephone interview from Trinidad. “If FIFA wants me to co-operate I will do that but not with Freeh.”
Warner, 68, who was one of the sport’s most powerful administrators, quit from all his soccer posts, saying he’d felt undermined by officials within FIFA and been “hung out to dry.”
