By FRANCO PANIZO
The dream of plenty of soccer fans has come true. Jack Warner has quit FIFA.
Currently suspended due to bribery allegations, Warner has resigned as a committee member of the sport's governing body and from his position as head of CONCACAF, FIFA said on Monday. As a result, the investigation into the allegations, which include bribery during the recent presidential election, have been dropped.
FIFA also said that since Warner resigned on his own will, he maintains innocence in regards to the allegations linked to him.
Here are some other stories from Monday:
Sanchez nears Barcelona deal
Barcelona looks set to win the Alexis Sanchez sweepstakes. The Udinese forward is planning on signing with the European champions, and has been given permission by Chile coach Claudio Borghi to leave the national team's camp to finalize his deal with Barcelona. The deal has not been completed, however, as Udinese appears to want an increased offer.
McLeish appointed Aston Villa manager
Aston Villa fans may not approve, but Alex McLeish is officially the club's new manager. Having last coached the Villans' arch-rival in Birmingham City, McLeish signing with the club led to fans protesting outside of Villa Park. McLeish insisted he understands, but said he will win them over by proving he is the man for the job.
Juventus still in pursuit of Aguero
Sergio Aguero has expressed his desire to leave Atletico Madrid this summer, and Juventus is still expressing their interest in him. Aguero is said to want to play for a new club, but he wants to stay in the Spanish capital. That hasn't stopped Juventus from being intrigued by the possiblity of signing the Argentine striker, who is also linked with other clubs such as Chelsea and Real Madrid.
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Planning on throwing an anti-corruption party this weekend in celebration of Warner quitting FIFA? Think Barcelona signing Sanchez is a good move for the club? How do you see McLeish faring with Aston Villa?
Share your thoughts below.
HALALUJAH. Dont even know if I spelled that right but who cares. Warner – out has been a dream for a long long time, I honestly didn’t think it would happen. Here’s hoping the next CONCACAF chief is less of a full-on criminal, though I’m not holding my breath.
Warner has been asked by FIFA to remain silent, charges have been dropped, money has been wired, details have not been disclosed. All’s well.
Does anyone else think that the reasoning behind not investigating the allegations of Warner was that FIFA was afraid of what they might find?
For all the heck that the Founding Fathers receive on the electoral college and the ‘bi-house’ legistlature….here is a perfect reason why you want a balance between big and small states and not a ‘democracy’.
I think this picture should qualify for a Caption Contest. He looks like he’s in the middle of saying, “Yeah I took bribes. So what?”
Somewhere in central Ohio, Bill Archer is smiling.
I’m not so sure. I think Barca will sell Villa for 40+ million and pay 30 for Sanchez without a major loss of form. They need money.
I think the response is the same from FIFA as from the Judge: “You’ll get nothing and like it!”
Did the Trinidad and Tobago team ever receive their bonuses for participating in the 2006 WC? There was a lawsuit and the judge in T&T found that Warner had promised the bonus from the T&T Federation and then not paid.
What about bin Hammam? Can FIFA find him guilty of bribery without implicating Warner, or will bin Hammam also resign?
Barca play in a lot of competitions and have some fragile players, Iniesta in particular so he’ll play, if not relegate pedro and affelay to the lesser competitions. This just adds to their absolute EMBARASSMENT of riches. Best player in the world, 2 best center mids in the world, and now arguably 3 of the top 10 wingers in the world.
Need a couple of reinforcements in Defense, but this team is going to be scary for a while to come.
I want a hot dog: no, a hamburger
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?
good thing Barca signed that Sanchez guy. that team needs a lot of help, they’re WEAK
Yeah, that’s exactly what Blatter said to him after Warner was ordered to fall on his sword.
Easiest way to kill the corruption investigations is to get rid of the “bad apples” in question and call the rest of barrel okay – without going through the bother of picking through them to find the rest of the rot.
Why do you think he had enough money to retire? FIFA slipped him a little more and he fell on his sword.
It’s a shame because I’m assuming he would start instead of Pedro? I’m really not sure, but why would you spend so much on someone and not plan on them starting? I would feel pretty shafted if I were Pedro or whoever else he replaces, as they don’t need to replace anyone. As for Fabregas, I don’t know why he’d want to go to Barca and be Xavi’s backup for the next few years…
Most of the money is in North America, agreed. And that’s where most of the power is, as well. The US or Mexico doesn’t need a representative to be President of CONCACAF to wield power. The island nations need the giants more than the giants need the island nations. I think a few of the island nations bit the hand that fed them, and this is the result.
He is out at CONCACAF too…out of FIFA as a whole…
On the otherhand the USA and Mexico foot the majority of the bill for the confederation….
+1
I want a pony. No, a unicorn!
That will never happen b/c each Caribbean FA, no matter how small, receives a vote equal to that of regional giants USA and Mexico. A united Caribbean therefore represents an unbeatable voting bloc, even for a united Central/North America. Even in a perfectly fair system with no bribery (the recent situation has shown that many administrators are honest), Caribbean nations still want more money thrown their way for legitimate development/construction, which is more likely to happen with a Caribbean candidate (just like US congressmen throwing projects and dollars to their own constituents.
So since he resigned, there is not need to continue the investigation, even though it might have directly impacted the FIFA presidential election?
You have to love this organization. Unreal.
Sanchez is an an amazing talent, so good on the ball and deadly, I think Barcelona got one of the best players money can buy, and in my opinion better than Fabregas
I am sure he made a ton of money from bribes and kickbacks over the years…He had a good run…Time for a new criminal to take over…
so he resigned from FIFA.
what about Concacaf?
he can still steal money through concacaf
How long does Warner need to stay out of FIFA before he can come back and no one bring up the idea of restarting this investigation?
Well, the problem is… did he break any government/international laws? Or did he just run way afoul of the ethics of FIFA (LOL)?
Probably in the end, the worst that would happen would be him getting ousted from his position… so I guess this is sort of justice? Without the wasted time and mockery that is FIFA’s justice.
I want a proper expose and an admittance from FIFA about why he is leaving.
totally. It’s like a player being investigated for doping gets to keep all of his records/trophies if he/she retires from the sport. Breaking the law is breaking the law. Letting him go encourages other behavior too, they can just “retire” if they’re caught.
Lame, but not unexpectedly so from FIFA.
so he quits and his corruption is just swept away? Anyone else not feel good about that?
Barca continually talks about how they want to sign Cesc Fabregas but this summer and last summer, they don’t make him a priority by spending their transfer budget on other players. Hopefully this signing shuts them up from that annoyance this summer.
It’s about time Concacaf got rid of the cancer that is Jack Warner! It’s time for the region to step up and provide leadership outside of the Caribbean countries…
Well, add Alexis Sanchez to the long list of talents wasted on the bench of teams collecting players like baseball cards…
Hey Warner:
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, GOODBYE!