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Interim CONCACAF boss maintains Blazer sacked
Thursday, June 02, 2011
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — A war of words has erupted following a move by interim CONCACAF president Lisle Austin to sack general secretary, Chuck Blazer, sparking more confusion in the Caribbean football fraternity as the fallout from the FIFA controversy continued.
Austin, who has replaced the suspended Jack Warner, announced on Tuesday evening that he had fired Blazer with "immediate effect", but a separate CONCACAF statement subsequently rejected that assertion, noting that Austin had acted "without any authority".
However, Austin countered in another statement that it was within his authority to fire the American, pointing out that he had also sought legal advice in effecting the termination.
"I have been made aware of a statement from CONCACAF Media Relations purporting that my actions to terminate Chuck Blazer as general secretary in my capacity as president of CONCACAF were unauthorised," Austin said.
"It is instructive to note that the authority of the president to terminate Mr Blazer rests in the CONCACAF Statutes and was taken after legal advice had been (sought)."
The CONCACAF media statement argued that under the governing body's statutes, only the executive committee possessed the power to remove Blazer and they had not taken any such action.
"Further, a majority of the Executive Committee members have advised Mr Austin that he does not have the authority to take such action," the statement continued.
Also quoting the CONCACAF Statutes, Austin asserted that the president had "the judicial and extrajudicial representation of CONCACAF" and pointed out that the executive committee could not convene a meeting without the president's directive.
"The response from the CONCACAF Media Relations is not only the fruit of illegal actions on the part of Mr Blazer, who is no longer the General Secretary, but is tantamount to trespassing since, the unauthorised use of CONCACAF's services and equipment by non-CONCACAF staff is unlawful," Austin charged.
"I can assure you that this is my final statement on this matter, I will not allow myself or this organisation to be dragged into a tit-for-tat war in the public domain. The reputation of this organisation has suffered immensely over the last two weeks."
In his first move on assuming the CONCACAF presidency on Monday, Austin controversially gave Blazer 48 hours to explain why he chose to investigate members of the continental governing body for misconduct and who authorised him to hire the US-based law firm of Collins and Collins to carry out these investigations.
On Tuesday, Blazer rejected Austin's demands, contending the authority fell within his purview.
Austin then announced that Blazer's services had been terminated "with immediate effect".
The Barbadian Austin, CONCACAF's senior vice-president, took up the top post after Warner was suspended by FIFA's ethics committee on Sunday pending an investigation into corruption allegations.
It was Blazer, also a FIFA Executive Committee member, who had sent a report to FIFA last week indicating "possible violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics" allegedly committed by Warner and Bin Hammam coming out of a meeting here earlier this month.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1O7tQIwj9
Thursday, June 02, 2011
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — A war of words has erupted following a move by interim CONCACAF president Lisle Austin to sack general secretary, Chuck Blazer, sparking more confusion in the Caribbean football fraternity as the fallout from the FIFA controversy continued.
Austin, who has replaced the suspended Jack Warner, announced on Tuesday evening that he had fired Blazer with "immediate effect", but a separate CONCACAF statement subsequently rejected that assertion, noting that Austin had acted "without any authority".
However, Austin countered in another statement that it was within his authority to fire the American, pointing out that he had also sought legal advice in effecting the termination.
"I have been made aware of a statement from CONCACAF Media Relations purporting that my actions to terminate Chuck Blazer as general secretary in my capacity as president of CONCACAF were unauthorised," Austin said.
"It is instructive to note that the authority of the president to terminate Mr Blazer rests in the CONCACAF Statutes and was taken after legal advice had been (sought)."
The CONCACAF media statement argued that under the governing body's statutes, only the executive committee possessed the power to remove Blazer and they had not taken any such action.
"Further, a majority of the Executive Committee members have advised Mr Austin that he does not have the authority to take such action," the statement continued.
Also quoting the CONCACAF Statutes, Austin asserted that the president had "the judicial and extrajudicial representation of CONCACAF" and pointed out that the executive committee could not convene a meeting without the president's directive.
"The response from the CONCACAF Media Relations is not only the fruit of illegal actions on the part of Mr Blazer, who is no longer the General Secretary, but is tantamount to trespassing since, the unauthorised use of CONCACAF's services and equipment by non-CONCACAF staff is unlawful," Austin charged.
"I can assure you that this is my final statement on this matter, I will not allow myself or this organisation to be dragged into a tit-for-tat war in the public domain. The reputation of this organisation has suffered immensely over the last two weeks."
In his first move on assuming the CONCACAF presidency on Monday, Austin controversially gave Blazer 48 hours to explain why he chose to investigate members of the continental governing body for misconduct and who authorised him to hire the US-based law firm of Collins and Collins to carry out these investigations.
On Tuesday, Blazer rejected Austin's demands, contending the authority fell within his purview.
Austin then announced that Blazer's services had been terminated "with immediate effect".
The Barbadian Austin, CONCACAF's senior vice-president, took up the top post after Warner was suspended by FIFA's ethics committee on Sunday pending an investigation into corruption allegations.
It was Blazer, also a FIFA Executive Committee member, who had sent a report to FIFA last week indicating "possible violations of the FIFA Code of Ethics" allegedly committed by Warner and Bin Hammam coming out of a meeting here earlier this month.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1O7tQIwj9
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