Former FIFA vice president Austin "Jack" Warner CLEARED

Austin "Jack" Warner 

Former vice president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and a senior member of the coalition Trinidad and Tobago government, Austin “Jack” Warner, has been told that he has no case to answer with respect to allegations of bribery purported to have taken place here last year during the campaign for the FIFA presidential elections.

"On the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), no further action can be taken in this matter," Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs informed the Police Service Commission on March 21.

He said the matter which was alleged to have occurred on or about May 10, 2011, was investigated by the police and the DPP advised the matter can proceed no further.

The PSC has since informed Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley by letter dated May 7.

In an immediate reaction Warner told television viewers that he was he was happy and felt vindicated while praising Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar for showing confidence in him.

There had been several calls for the Prime Minister Persad Bissessar to dismiss Warner from the Cabinet after the bribery allegations first surfaced.

"There are so many things that are more important in the country. There is so much work to be done that I can't worry about foolishness. I said from day one that there is nothing in the matter and I maintain that. “But there are forces out there that are trying to recreate something from time immemorial and there is nothing that they can recreate," he said, adding that the entire allegation was part of “a deliberate campaign designed to demonise me by those who were opposed to me”.

Last May, Warner invited the heads of various Caribbean football associations to meet with FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam here and at that meeting several of the delegates reported that over one million (US) dollars had been distributed to them in brown envelopes.