BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS: Mohamed Bin Hammam

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Two other Trinis charged with Warner

By Ian Prescott ian.prescott@trinidadexpress.com

THE two other people named to face a FIFA tribunal in Zurich, Switzerland on Sunday are both from Trinidad and Tobago and work for Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.

Warner, also president of CONCACAF, and Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam are both facing allegations of bribery linked to FIFA presidential elections on June 1. They face lengthy suspensions if the bribery allegations are proven.

FIFA also said CFU employees Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester are under investigation.

FIFA acted after receiving a report from FIFA executive committee member American Chuck Blazer regarding Warner and Bin Hammam's alleged conduct at a CFU meeting on May 10-11 in Trinidad and Tobago. On Warner's invitation, Bin Hammam met with 25 Caribbean football leaders at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain on May 11 to lobby votes for his candidacy for FIFA president. FIFA vice-president Warner and Bin Hammam are accused of offering bribes to members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) for votes in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections on June 1. The Daily Telegraph in London reported that CFU members were offered US$40,000 for their votes in the FIFA presidential elections. Both FIFA officials have declared their innocence in the matter.

Warner, 68, will leave Trinidad tomorrow morning for Zurich where he will answer the allegations before a FIFA Ethics Committee. Minguell and Sylvester both work for the Caribbean Football Union, which is based in Warner's CONCACAF office on Edward Street, Port of Spain. Minguell is currently assistant to CFU general secretary Anganie Kanhai. Minguell has been with the CFU for a while and has previously worked with Kerry Alleyne, who was the first woman to hold the position of CFU general secretary, before resigning in 2006 and migrating to the United States.

A call to the CONCACAF president's office yesterday revealed that Minguell was on vacation. Sylvester has been with CFU for four years where he is the event coordinator. His job includes handling tournaments. Sylvester is currently in Guyana where he is in charge of the CFU Club Championship Finals involving Tempete (Haiti), Alpha (Guyana), Puerto Rico Islanders and Trinidad and Tobago champions Defence Force.

Warner's lawyer Om Lalla was yesterday asked to shed light on whether the Caribbean Football Union officials were also required to travel to Switzerland to face FIFA as well. Lalla, represents both Warner and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation.

Lalla would likely represent both Warner and his CFU counterparts, but he could not yet say if the other CFU officials will be required to travel to Zurich. Lalla also said he will confirm today whether he will be accompanying Warner to Zurich.

"It is a tribunal hearing governed by the rules of FIFA," Lalla disclosed. "Like any other tribunal , persons will be call upon to make statements and present whatever evidence, but of the exact details, I don't have the particulars as yet.

"Tomorrow I will be in a much better position to give that, "Lalla said. "Remember, it is a very rushed hearing and at this point we are not certain of the exact procedure. But tomorrow we will probably have some documentation."

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