9 replies to this topic

[RobH]

Two new FIFA threads in one day! First ISL now this:

Quote

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner said he got the World Cup television rights for Trinidad & Tobago for $1 after helping Sepp Blatter get elected president of the soccer ruling body.

Warner, who quit world soccer’s governing body in June after accusations of bribery, said today in a statement that he got the rights from FIFA in 1998 via a Mexican company and also acquired them for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions. He used the revenue from selling on the rights to develop the sport in the Caribbean, where he’s from, according to the statement.

Warner said he refused to endorse Blatter in the June election even though he was offered the rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup for a nominal fee. He also alleged that he was offered other “inducements” to develop soccer in the region, including relaying turf at a stadium in Trinidad & Tobago and $1 million in grants, according to the statement.

http://www.bloomberg...ghts-for-1.html

[krow]

are the tv rights in trinidad worth much more than $1?

i just don't see how this is a story. unless it can be proven that these inducements were conditional on his support for blatter,which is just going to come down to a case of he said/she said.

and if was a bribe (and let's be honest, it probably was), i think it was about as noble a bribe as humanly feasible. developing sport and infrastructure in a developing nation? not exactly a shockingly perverted use of fifa funding.

[baron-pierreIV]

It could've been around $49,999 for Warner. The implication in all this is that he was legally sold the rights for a nominal sum--and he had exclusive rights to resell those rights to whatever he could resell them for in T&T. So, it was really good change in his pockets.

[deawebo]

Of course the TT rights dont wore $1, i maybe just sit and cpu tinue seing this circus, sadly cuz its on the best sport on earth (futbol) well, soccer...

I dont think it went for infrastructure in TT, but maybe it can be quite the same that with drugs here... Some help

*drug dealers

[MrCatra]

reasonable price considering his costs for broadcasting the games in his home country. FIFA should always help smaller countries. Spreading football should be their target. No need to exploit a poor country.

[RobH]

krow, on 01 January 2012 - 11:22 PM, said:

are the tv rights in trinidad worth much more than $1?

i just don't see how this is a story. unless it can be proven that these inducements were conditional on his support for blatter,which is just going to come down to a case of he said/she said.

and if was a bribe (and let's be honest, it probably was), i think it was about as noble a bribe as humanly feasible. developing sport and infrastructure in a developing nation? not exactly a shockingly perverted use of fifa funding.

It is very hard to know what to believe, you're right. Warner's track record is hardly brilliant though. Ask the T&T World Cup squad or the black market ticket tout who was sold thousands of tickets, or Lord Triesmann what Warner is like with money and where his priorities are. If Warner was sold the rights for $1 then subsequently sold them on for more, his track record doesn't suggest all the funds would have gone to football development, quite the opposite in fact.

MrCatra, on 15 January 2012 - 04:22 AM, said:

reasonable price considering his costs for broadcasting the games in his home country. FIFA should always help smaller countries. Spreading football should be their target. No need to exploit a poor country.

Warner sold the rights on! The cost of the rights to T&T was not $1, it was whatever Warner subsequently charged, which would have been market rate.

Baron's got it right. The implication here is Blatter gets some votes in his election bid, Warner gets TV rights on the cheap to sell on at a handsome profit. Now Warner is of course claiming that profit was used to develop the Game in the Caribbean, but given his track record I wonder, I really do.

[RobH]

An explosive confidential letter written by FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke reveals that he and president Blatter secretly bypassed FIFA’s committees to give World Cup television rights to former vice-president Jack Warner, rather than sell them in the open market.

The hand-written letter (see left) that accompanied the rights agreement strengthens concerns that Blatter runs FIFA as his personal fiefdom, dispensing valuable contracts to keep his supporters loyal, with the acquiescence of chief executive Valcke.

Valcke wrote ‘Here is the agreement signed by the P (President Blatter). This deal has not been through all normal boards or comm. Hence so I'm asking to make no publicity on it for the time being. Kind regards, Jérôme.’

The letter is undated but appears to refer to rights for 2010 and 2014 in the Caribbean region. Warner, reportedly, re-sold them for around $20 million. Unofficial sources at FIFA claim that Warner was asked to pay $250,000 for the 2010 rights and $350,000 for 2014. It is also alleged that Warner never paid – and that this was well-known inside FIFA.

More here:

http://www.transpare..._tv_rights.html

[MrCatra]

damn! I wonder why those crops aren't put down? FIFA is a disgusting organization. I wish they'd clean up their act for once...

[RobH]

Warner named in Haitian aid scandal

http://wired868.com/...ian-aid-scandal

A new low, quite possibly?

[MrCatra]

^^ they should all be banned from FIFA!