Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Horace Burrell has apologized on behalf of members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) for their involvement in the cash-for-votes, bribery scandal involving former FIFA presidential candidate, Mohamed bin Hamman.
Burrell was speaking at a recent media conference, two days after his suspension from the game instituted by the sport’s world governing body, FIFA, ended.
Burrell and several other leading CFU officials were either suspended, fined or reprimanded by FIFA, following a meeting last May in Trinidad, where it is alleged that bin Hammam offered US$40,000 and other gifts to each association to support him against incumbent Sepp Blatter in last June’s presidential election.
“Everyone that attended that meeting last May in Trinidad regretted it,” he said.
“It is not something we are happy about. In fact, we would have preferred to not have gone,” Burrell said.
“Having said that, it is now through the window and we plan to move forward positively,” he added.
The scandal led to bin Hammam being banned from the sports for life and former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the former CONCACAF and CFU president, a Cabinet minister with the Trinidad and Tobago government, resigned in disgrace.
Burrell said he was now eager to get back running the JFF and moving the sport forward in the island.
He said corporate Jamaica was elated at his return to the helm of the local administration and he would be making a big sponsorship announcement soon.
