MR. JACK WARNER'S WORRYING STANCE
Jamaica Observer Editorial

Kingston, June 06, 2009 -- Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, is a great servant of football. His contribution has long been recognised and appreciated all across the CONCACAF (Caribbean, North America and Central American) region.

As such, it would have come as no surprise that a recent attempt by Mr Peter Jenkins to unseat Captain Burrell as regional representative of the CONCACAF Executive Committee petered out.  What has shocked this newspaper is the news that Mr Jack Warner, a vice president of FIFA and head of CONCACAF as well as the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), has ordered that Mr Jenkins and those who gave him support be punished for daring to challenge Captain Burrell.

According to Thursday's report, Mr Warner has given instructions that Mr Jenkins be banished "from all commissions" of CONCACAF and the CFU.

Said Mr Warner in a letter to Mr Jenkins: "In your case, on the advice of the committee of the CFU, I have instructed the general secretary of both the CFU and the CONCACAF to remove you forthwith."  Mr Warner has accused Mr Jenkins, a former president of the St Kitts and Nevis Football Association, of contravening "the political conventions" of the CFU by his decision to contest the post held by Captain Burrell.

Exactly what those "political conventions" of the CFU are, we do not know. Though we suspect they are rooted in the belief that CFU members should stick together regardless of the circumstances.  What we do know is that - from this distance at least - the entire episode bears no resemblance to well-established democratic practice. On the contrary, it sounds suspiciously like Mr Warner is running a dictatorship.

It gets worse. Mr Warner, in his letter to Mr Jenkins, warned that the two countries that initially supported him - Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada - would be written to and asked to explain their positions, which Mr Warner classifies as attempts to "fracture the unity" of the CFU.

"If their explanations are not satisfactory, disciplinary proceedings shall be instituted against both countries," declares Mr Warner.  We are appalled. We shudder to think what would happen if an ambitious CFU association president ever challenges Mr Warner for his top post.

The situation has left us with more questions than answers.  Surely, this is not how business is conducted in FIFA and its other confederations?

We trust that a sane voice - perhaps from the upper echelons of world football's governing body - will whisper in Mr Warner's ear.