Blazer is Latest FIFA / CONCACAF Member Under Investigation

Chuck Blazer, the American general secretary of CONCACAF, has been questioned by FIFA’s ethics committee after complaints were made against him by Caribbean associations.

Blazer sent in the report which sparked the investigation that led to the suspension of fellow FIFA members Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam on bribery charges.

The complaint against the American is related to remarks Blazer is alleged to have made in a meeting in Zurich in May, though Blazer stated: “I am confident of a positive resolution.”

The official complaint was made in a letter to the committee signed by 11 heads of Caribbean federations relating to Blazer’s behaviour at a CONCACAF meeting before last month’s FIFA Congress and does not refer in any way to the bribery issues currently under investigation by world football’s governing body.

The letter said Blazer made “statements of contempt and slander that served to impugn the integrity, discriminate against and infringe upon the personal rights” of CONCACAF members.

A Caribbean football source told Reuters the meeting spilled over into a row over who should take over as acting president after Warner was suspended, during which Blazer told some Caribbean officials they faced investigation.

The letter of complaint continues: “The statement of Mr Blazer flouts the principle of a person being innocent before being proven guilty.”

It says Blazer “violated the personal rights” of Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaican Football Federation – Blazer blocked him becoming active vice-president of CONCACAF.

It also alleges Blazer “discriminated against Capt Burrell and certain members of the CONCACAFthrough his contemptuous and denigratory words since all the persons who were singled out were of a specific race”.