Jack Warner is so confident that Sports Minister Gary Hunt cannot show proof of paying the salaries of the national team's technical staff for the last year that the Chaguanas West Member of Parliament has threatened to quit all his major posts.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation special adviser branded Hunt "a liar" and claimed that he (Warner) and not the Ministry had been paying the salaries of T&T Colombian head coach Francisco Maturana and his staff.
Further, Warner said he would resign all his posts-that of FIFA vice-president, Chaguanas West MP, TTFF adviser, and both CFU and CONCACAF presidencies-if Hunt provided tangible proof that the Ministry of Sport had paid the salaries of the technical staff from last November to now.
"I wear many hats," a feisty Warner declared. "I will resign all if the Minister can prove it. If he cannot prove it, then he should resign."
Last week, the Ministry issued a release stating: "The Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs has already disbursed $6,635,500 to cover the cost of salaries for the period January to September 2008. An additional $8,754,000 now has been approved in further support of our national team's bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa."
However, Warner disputed the statement, claiming that he had in fact advanced the salary payments out of his own pocket, as part of $24 million in funding provided to the T&T squad.
And Warner accused Hunt of using "guerrilla warfare" against the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation.
He explained his accusation by stating that the Minister has abused his power, by inviting as many as 40 people to enter the Hasely Crawford Stadium for qualifying matches free of charge, and using as many parking spaces as they required.
Warner declared that next year the TTFF may once again have to seek an alternative venue to the Hasely Crawford Stadium to host World Cup qualifiers.
Warner challenges Hunt: Prove payments or quit.
By: Nigel Simon (Guardian).
FIFA vice-president and Concacaf boss, Jack Warner has threatened to resign from all posts he currently holds in football, if minister of Sport Gary Hunt can prove to him that the ministry has paid the salaries off the technical staff off the national football team.
Warner said he will soon call a press conference to clear up the matter :“When I call the press conference I will ask the Sports Minister to bear his soul to the nation and if by chance the Minister can prove that he or his Ministry, or the Sports Company together or separately paid any money to the technical staff for salaries between November last year and yesterday, I will resign from all my positions.”
He added: “I wear many hats Fifa, Concacaf, parliament and any other and I will resign from all and at the same time I hope that if he can’t prove it he will do the same thing and resign.”
Warner, made his comments at the launch of Group H of the Digicel Caribbean Championship Second Round Qualifiers at Crowne Plaza, Hotel, Wrightson Road, yesterday
He said :“While this is not the forum for it, I will be fair and truthful to the media, so I need to correct a wrong and the untruths that have been reported over the past few weeks from the Ministry of Sport.
“If I may recall, the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs through its Minister said that it has given some $6M to the T&TFF to pay for the salaries of the senior team technical staff from November last year up to October this year. But I want to tell you that’s a lie. That’s a blatant untruth.”
Reflecting on his comments made last month about his financial support for the team Warner added : “When I said that Jack spent $24 million in football it was money that I advanced to the them TTFF as loans to pay salaries to the staff.
“I’m now challenging the Minister of Sport to prove to me anywhere by copies of receipts, invoices or anything where he has paid salaries of any member of the technical staff from November last year when he became Minister to yesterday. That’s far from the truth.”
“And if by chance you don’t want to take my word for it ask Mr (Richard) Groden, the general secretary of the T&TFF.
Warner also refuted claims by two local newspapers that the T&TFF general secretary (Groden) spoke on the matter with regards to payments by the Government to cover technical staff salaries which stated he had no comment to make.
“I spoke to the Mr Groden and when I asked him if he spoke to anyone he said he did not speak with any media house and they did not call him. But to put ‘no comment’ in the newspaper makes it sound possible.
“Therefore I will simply say to you that at the appropriate time I shall reveal all the facts.
“In fact my dear colleagues and friends come next year it may very well be that we may have to have the type of guerilla warfare all over again for use of the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
“This is because the Minister invited his own guests, about 30 or 40 of them to the last World Cup match, unknown to the federation. He has also taken his own parking spaces unknown to the federation.
“This is the kind of thing that takes place and no sponsor like Digicel wants to be involve in this kind of guerilla warfare. They have to protect their image and therefore we are sitting down very seriously to look and see what the alternatives are next year in terms of where do we go from here to avoid any contact at all with the ‘monster of sports’.”