Suspended FIFA vice-president decides not to start 'football tsunami'

Suspended FIFA vice-president, Jack Warner, on Sunday reneged on a pledge to reveal details of an email exchange with President Sepp Blatter, which he had previously said would shed light on an ongoing bribery probe.

At a Sunday rally that drew a few thousand supporters in the central Trinidadian town of Felicity, Mr. Warner said he decided not to disclose the contents of the email because "the best legal advice received at home and abroad has suggested that I do not do so at this

Mr. Warner had promised a "football tsunami" would follow his suspension by FIFA's Ethics committee last week but on Sunday he produced little more than a gentle Caribbean breeze.

In a brief speech in his constituency on Sunday, Mr. Warner, also Ministers of Works and Transport for Trinidad and Tobago, reiterated his innocence but said he would not be making public the emails after discussions with his lawyers.

"I had plans to speak to you today a bit more on this matter but the best legal advice I received has suggested that I do not do so at this point in time and that advice I am going to respect," he told supporters from his party at a public rally.

Mr. Warner, also president of CONCACAF, the regional body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has been suspended pending a full investigation by FIFA into allegations that bribery took place at a meeting he organized with Mohammed Bin Hammam.

The meeting in Trinidad involving Mr. Bin Hammam, the head of the Asian Football Confederation, was related to the Qatari's presidential election campaign against Mr. Blatter.

Caribbean football leaders are alleged to have been paid $40,000 each to back Mr. Bin Hammam.

"I haven't thieved anything, I haven't given anybody anything and I don't know what the hullaballoo is all about," Mr. Warner said.

Referring to Mr. Bin Hammam, he said: "My friend came here to talk to some people, he spoke to them and then he left. The rest is now history and let the facts come out."

Responding to calls by one of the major partners in the coalition government and by the opposition for him to step down pending FIFA's investigations into the allegations, Mr. Warner said his FIFA position never interfered with his government work.

But he told supporters, "if it comes to a choice between FIFA and you, the choice is you."

Mr. Bin Hammam has also been suspended from all football activities and, like Warner, has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr. Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president last week at a congress overshadowed by bribery and corruption allegations.

(Sara Ghasemilee, a senior editor at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at [email protected])