Jack out of the Box

Austin 'Jack' Warner

It is instructive to assimilate every plot twist and red herring in the current imbroglio involving several senior officials of the FIFA. Reason being something that I have always said... love him or loathe him, Jack Warner has had decades worth of experience in politics on an international stage... therefore the hypothetical banana republic politics will rarely pose any major challenge.

The current fiasco is one that will test the man, the mentality and the motivation of Warner, who after years of being dogged by unsubstantiated allegations of poor conduct, has now become the virtual messiah of peoples of Chaguanas West to CARICOM. To take the position of Devil's Advocate, one would say that Warner may be correctly convicted of the wrong crime.

In today's society, where the media keeps watch over the potentially grubbish fingers of public officials, it's hard to think that a man who is rumoured to have spent nearly 70 million TT dollars on two election campaigns in less than three years, and who, at the turn of the century was estimated to have been worth close to 100 million US dollars (by Forbes), would risk it all for USD40,000 in loose notes.

But back to the politics. FIFA's current stint in the spotlight has surpassed that of the IOC even, which faced its tribulations in the not too recent past.

The key difference is that allegations have always turned personal in the world of football. Take for instance a report on http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/145/goalcom-features/2011/05/31/2512485/concacaf-corruption-has-long-history-and-will-require-a-lot, which up to just a few hours ago was viewable, but which seems to have been inexplicably taken down.

The report alleged that Blazer and Co. knew of alleged corrupt practices for well over two decades, but said nothing up to now - even the Bahamas FA General Secretary Fred Lunn reportedly accepted the bribe before "unaccepting" it... one may surmise that it could not have been the first time he's faced such a situation in all his years being involved in football.

So why all the brouhaha now? Legalists will always debate the conundrum of the victimless crime. Some may simply say that if FIFA is making hefty profits from the sale of TV rights and the administration of football, it is also being a good corporate citizen by its financial assistance to promoting the sport in developing countries and literally taking the game to the world.

FIFA has maintained a rigid stance in the fight against discrimination and racism, and uses the sport to promote world peace... "so what if a few million goes missing, if no one misses it in the first place?"... (the "greater good" and all that)... It's not that I endorse those types of views, and that I am prone to looking at the current situation in any specious light.

However, one should not forget the ultimate prize at stake... not money... but power, prestige and influence. This is what is being played for on this field. Remember not every whistle-blow gives a penalty kick or demands a red card, but in the same vein, fair play should be the mantra both on and off the field.