Blazer sticks to his guns

FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer insists he has not been sacked from his role as General Secretary of CONCACAF.

Lisle Austin, acting president of CONCACAF – the federation of North American, Central American and Caribbean football associations – has twice attempted to dismiss Blazer after he accused senior FIFA figures Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam of corruption.

Warner has been suspended from his role as CONCACAF President pending an investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee.

Warner’s deputy, Austin, has attempted to remove Blazer from his role within CONCACAF, but the 66-year-old American insists Austin does not have the authority to dismiss him.

“I still have my job, very much so,” Blazer said.

“The majority of the executive committee has said very clearly that I have a job and they are the only ones who can control it.”

“I have always been comfortable with CONCACAF. There’s an individual who thinks he has more power than he does.”

The farcical row involving Blazer and Austin comes as FIFA President Sepp Blatter was re-elected unopposed on Wednesday.

The English and Scottish FA’s sought to have the election delayed over concerns about Blatter’s integrity.

Blazer acknowledged their right to seek the delay, but believes FIFA are still a force for good in football, despite the recent storm of corruption allegations.

“I feel they have every right to do it, that’s all,” Blazer said, referring to the attempted delays.

“These decisions are for national associations to make for themselves, and they have every right to do that.”

“I think that FIFA is doing a really excellent job of promoting football around the world, if I look back 10 years, 20 years and see the progress we have made, I’m very proud of our accomplishments.”

South African FA Vice-President Danny Jordaan supported Blatter’s re-election to the top job, claiming he had been given a mandate for reform from the FIFA Congress.

“I think the structures have been put in place to deal with the matter so I think the congress has given Sepp Blatter a 91-percent mandate, they have endorsed 100 percent the proposals that he proposed so he has got the institutional structures now to deal with any and every matter,” Jordaan said.

“He was talking about the independence of these enquires, the governance and so on.”

“We are very happy, I think coming from where we’ve come from if these proposals are implemented I think there is a bright future for FIFA.”