Ex-FIFA official Jack Warner promises to reveal ‘avalanche’ of secrets

Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, who last week was among the high-ranking officials named in a 47-count criminal indictment alleging bribery and racketeering, made a televised address in his native Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday, saying he will prove a link between soccer’s governing body and his nation’s elections in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

In the address, a political advertisement by the Liberal Independent Party he helped found, Warner said he has documents and checks that link FIFA officials, including embattled President Sepp Blatter, to the 2010 election in Trinidad & Tobago.

“I apologize for not disclosing my knowledge of these events before,” said Warner, who told supporters he will not hold back in his newfound plan to expose scandal, according to the Associated Press. He said he plans to turn documents over to his attorneys.

“Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming,” Warner said as his supporters cheered in celebration. “The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall.”

Warner, who faces eight criminal counts in the U.S., surrendered to authorities in Trinidad & Tobago last week and was granted a $395,000 bond after spending the night in jail.

Much of the Department of Justice case revolves around Warner, including his role in the selection of South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup. There are allegations that a South African soccer official gave a briefcase stuffed with U.S. currency in stacks of $10,000 to Warner’s representative and that secretive wire transfers were made from a Swiss account to a bank in New York.

A former member of FIFA’s executive committee and a past president of CONCACAF, the federation that oversees soccer in North America, the Caribbean and Central America, Warner was implicated in numerous corruption allegations dating back to the 1980s. In the spring of 2011, FIFA’s ethics committee began official proceedings against Warner that led to his suspension and later resignation.

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