Jack Warner's resignation: send in the clowns

On the face of it Jack Warner’s resignation may appear to be a victory for those campaigning against the corruption that seems to have spread like fungal roots throughout FIFA. Far from it. I feel that this is a very clear case of an insurmountably embattled individual jumping before being pushed, and the only result of this final humiliation is that FIFA itself has dodged a bullet. For one of its Vice Presidents to be found guilty of bribery by its own ethics committee would have surely cemented public suspicions that the organisation is rotten to the core. However, FIFA’s statement on the resignation announced that the undertakings of the ethics committee, “…have been closed and the assumption of innocence is maintained.”

I suppose by now it is naïve to expect anything else from this unaccountable organisation, but I feel it’s worth having a quick look at the history of this wonderful servant to football:

· Accused of selling millions of pounds worth of World Cup tickets on the black market for personal gain.

· Abused his position in FIFA to further the interests of his home nation, writing letters to Premiership managers about the availability of players for Trinidad & Tobago’s international squad.

· Commented that, “…no foreigner will come to my country, particularly a white foreigner, and try to harass me, intimidate me, and push me around…” in response to questioning about the profit he made from selling World Cup tickets.

· Allegedly warned delegates to book travel arrangements (which could be claimed back in expenses) to a conference in Trinidad through his family’s travel agency, or risk having to pay themselves.

· Claimed he would like to “spit on” a Panorama reporter asking questions about the World Cup ticket scandal.

That’s off the top of my head, and with about 5 minutes research for links to support them.

It may sound clichéd, but it's fair to say that the real loser here is football itself. The game is still being held hostage by a shady organisation that bears some of the hallmarks of a large criminal network, run by racketeers. It’s interesting that Warner released an email from another FIFA executive suggesting that Qatar had “bought” the 2022 World Cup, but quickly retracted his promise to “unleash a tsunami” against his former buddies. Now it seems he wants to get off the radar as quickly as possible, before he’s shot down in a hail of friendly fire.

The ‘presumption of innocence’ is quite hard to take given the sheer volume of smoke, if one is to accept the smoke / fire adage. It suits FIFA down to the ground though because nothing has been proven, and they have a credible scapegoat with whom to try and defuse the situation they now find themselves in. As controversial and loathsome as Jack Warner is, the best result for anybody who cares about football would have been for him to stay on and be found guilty of corruption by the ethics committee. If that had happened then the footballing public would have been in a strong position to press for more investigation into FIFA’s conduct… instead one of its shadiest characters has gone for an early bath. FIFA may have lost a clown, but rest assured the carnival will continue with aplomb.