Poisonous shark shaming football

He knows a lot about such things, does Jack. He capped the bonus earnings of Trinidad & Tobago’s national team from the last World Cup at a big fat zero, even though it generated at least £17 million for the islands’ football federation and even though he has been ordered by legal judgment to cough up half of that sum.

Warner once offered the squad about 1,000 US dollars each, take it or leave it. This was before the Trinidadian government revealed to London lawyers that the football authorities there had somehow – somehow! – underestimated their World Cup commercial income by 173m in Trinidadian dollars or about £17m.

The players refused that first offer anyway and believe they may be entitled to about £660,000. So in the High Court in Port of Spain next Thursday, the lid Warner has placed on the pay-out for his nation’s players from Germany 2006 will be under dispute again.

Solicitor Michael Townley will fly out to argue a case he has already won once against the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation and their head honcho, “special adviser” Warner. The football authorities there will claim they are not bound by any decision at all. Nice, eh? The Beautiful Game at its best.

Why didn’t Jack mention this when he was sounding off at the Football Leaders’ conference at Stamford Bridge earlier this week? Why does anybody have to listen to what this self-serving swindler and political manipulator thinks?

Sadly, we do. He is powerful. But this is just so that you know about the latest round of trouble involving Warner, a FIFA vice-president and major political player, who carved up a World Cup ticket racket for his family, got caught and still survived.

This is just so that you know about some of the current dealings of a man who arrogantly lectures us about what is wrong with our campaign – no big names sucking up to him yet, apparently – while getting all excited because the Australian hopefuls gave him a carrier bag of goodies as he entered Chelsea’s ground on Wednesday.

England’s attempt to bring the World Cup here for the first time since 1966 may be a little flawed and its boss, Lord Triesman of the FA, a little too pleased with himself. But basically it is good and sound and highly justified. You may have noticed that the game is rather popular here. You may have noticed that there are 40-odd big, new or revamped stadiums already built here, packed to the rafters every other week.

Warner – who may control up to five of the 24 World Cup votes – chose to undermine all those self-evidently positive reasons for bringing the tournament to England with a high-profile statement that made clear that it is glad-handing and back-scratching which really counts in this contest.

England have been “lightweight”, he said, with no sign of David Beckham or the Queen doing the rounds yet.

We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t by these schmoozers, of course. That’s how they play their game.

Last time around, when we failed to get 2006, they told us we were too high and mighty. We sent out too many big names. This time, apparently, we’re too low-key.

Yes, we know that’s how it all works. But it has little to do with what’s best for football fans. Or the salient point that both Germany and Mexico have had the World Cup twice since it was last here and that Spain, whose bid is said to be popular among the voting FIFA delegates, had it as recently as 1982.

Warner has conveniently proved all this by ignoring the highly tangible merits of England’s case to place the emphasis on wheeler-dealing and making FIFA delegates feel loved and succoured instead.

Just in case you have been tempted to give credence to his attacks – and the bookies were turning on England’s chances yesterday – here is the latest on the Trinidad payments row, which, interestingly, does not involve the World Cup team’s captain, former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke.

Shaka Hislop, Kenwyne Jones, Stern John and their 13 colleagues involved in the case have so far received nothing from the millions Trinidad’s federation made from the 2006 tournament, at which they were the smallest nation ever to qualify.

They are supposed to get a half share, according to a top-level legal judgment delivered in May last year by presiding QC Ian Mill at the Sport Disputes Resolutions Panel in London.

It was during this arbitration case that the Trinidadian government released figures that showed that their football federation had underestimated their earnings from the World Cup by 173 million Trinidadian dollars (at least £17m). This is said to have devalued the bonus payments offered.

At first, the federation agreed to the deal ordered by Mill. But now they claim a confidentiality agreement about the sums involved was breached in a leak to a Port of Spain newspaper. This, they argue, negates the settlement. The row over this is what will be under examination in the capital’s High Court next week.

Just now, this adds to the huge swirl of controversy surrounding Warner, who, believe it or not, first told England that their 2018 bid should not be too up-front.

FIFA’s own auditors, Ernst and Young, identified Warner as the source of 5,400 World Cup 2006 tickets which were sold for up to four times their face value. It has been alleged that his son, Darayan, was fined $1m by FIFA over the scam, which involved the family travel company.

Meanwhile, Warner snr can be seen on a YouTube video making a racist comment about investigative reporter Andrew Jennings, saying: “No foreigner – particularly a white foreigner – can come to my country to harass and try to intimidate me.”

Football here has its problems. But it should not have to take lectures from this poisonous, swindling, power-broking shark.

The sadness of the world game and its fabulous World Cup is that men like Warner hold so much sway over it.

When the votes are cast, it must be hoped that it is the strength of England’s bid, not the smarminess of their smiles and the goodies in their carrier bag that clinches the deal.