FIFA Whistleblower Resigning CONCACAF Role

(ATR) CONCACAF general secretary and recent FIFA whistleblower Chuck Blazer is resigning at year’s end after two decades atop the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football.

Blazer, 66, said his time had come.

"My passion for soccer is undiminished and it is time for me to explore new challenges within this wonderful sport," he explained in a Thursday statement from CONCACAF.

"Running a governing body has been an incredibly fulfilling job, but there are so many other areas of the sport where as a senior executive, I will make a great impact."

The New York City native is just months removed from a series of bribery allegations that sent shockwaves through the sport and cost Asian football boss Mohammed Bin Hammam as well as CONCACAF president Jack Warner their jobs.

In the run-up to June's FIFA Congress, Blazer accused both of colluding to buy the votes of Caribbean Football Union members as part of Bin Hammam’s campaign to oust Sepp Blatter after 13 years as FIFA president.

A probe by FIFA’s Ethics Committee found the Qatari guilty of offering $40,000 bribes to 25 CFU officials at a meeting in Trinidad on May 10 and 11. Bin Hammam was then banned from the sport for life.

Warner, on the other hand, left football following Blazer’s allegations, a move forcing FIFA to drop its impending investigation.

The controversy by no means stopped with Warner and Bin Hammam, both FIFA Ex-Co members, out of the picture.

Lisle Austin of Barbados, formerly acting president of CONCACAF after Warner quit FIFA for good, later tried to sack Blazer ina move not authorized by the confederation's executive committee. Austin was then suspended with Alfredo Hawit of Honduras taking on the position of acting CONCACAF president.

On top of all that, Blazer himself is reportedly under investigation by the FBI, according to a recent Reuters report. A task force on "Eurasian organized crime" is allegedly examining a series of three payments totaling more than $500,000 made by the CFU to offshore accounts associated with Blazer in the past 15 years.

Blazer later admitted receiving the payoutsin an email to the news agency but insisted all three were legal and that he is not, in fact, the subject of an FBI probe.

No word yet on when and how CONCACAF will fill Blazer’s shoes. Efforts made by Around the Rings to contact the confederation for comment – and for clarity as to whether Blazer is in fact under investigation by the FBI – have so far been unsuccessful.

Blazer told The Associated Press on Thursday he would keep his FIFA Ex-Co spot, a position he’s held since 1997, but has yet to decide whether to run for re-election in 2013.

"Now, with CONCACAF's 50th anniversary year coming to a close, the Champions League well established and the 2011 Gold Cup having exceeded all expectations, the timing will be right to devote myself to other opportunities in this great sport," he said.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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