According to a report from Dagbladet, a daily newspaper in Norway, CONCACAF and Caribbean Football Union President and FIFA Vice President Jack Warner SOLD LARGE QUANTITIES OF WORLD CUP 2010 MATCH TICKETS to what is being described as "one of the worlds' biggest black market companies".
The report (for which I am indebted to BigSoccer stalwart Craig P) states that Warner was approached by a ticket dealer in late 2009 about procuring quantities of tickets "under the table" for resale.
Dagbladet says they now have the receipt for the transaction, which would be a major violation of FIFA rules.
You will recall that Warners' T&T based travel agency, Simpaul, was found to have illegally sold over 5000 tickets to games at Germany 2006. Warner subsequently "resigned" from his chairmanship of the firm, leaving his son as head of the company, which was subsequently fined US$1 million although little if any of that has been paid.
This time around, he reportedly ordered the tickets through the CFU.
Unfortunately for Jack, probably because of the glut of tickets and low demand, the scalpers stiffed him and the bill for the tickets remains unpaid.
Sports investigative reporter Andrew Jennings has recently reported that Sepp Blatter and the FIFA hierarchy have grown increasingly embarrassed by the seemingly endless series of scandals connected to Warner and believe that FIFA would be better off without him.
Particularly with Blatter suddenly finding himself in what's shaping up to be a bruising re-election battle ahead of the vote this coming December – the Asian Confederation is furious with Blatter and Korean Fed President Chung, heir to the Hyundai Industries fortune, has vowed to spend whatever it takes to get Blatter replaced – another scandal surrounding his most loyal public ally is the last thing he needs.
And this story, if accurate, could very well prove to be his undoing.
Back in 2006 the head of the Egyptian Federation was found to have sold just 12 tickets through a scalper and he was immediately stripped of his ExCo membership and disqualified from ever again holding a FIFA office.
Subsequently, even Blatters' hardest-core loyalists found it hard to swallow when Warner, who sold over 5000 tickets, was simply given a letter of reprimand, after which Blatter said Jack was "forgiven".
But perhaps this time, with his re-election in jeopardy, Blatter has been handed a way to finally get rid of the increasingly embarrassing – and unrepentant – Warner.
Dagbladet has sent inquiries to Warner through the CFU, which acknowledges their receipt but has told them that he's "too busy to respond".
Stay tuned. If this report turns out to be true Sepp Blatter will have some interesting decisions to make.