Cayman Islands football chief Jeffrey Webb is playing down speculation that he is favourite to become the next president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) because he wants to help get the scandal-hit Caribbean Football Union functioning better.
Webb is leading the effort to re-organise Caribbean football after months of upheaval and although he is being touted as the next president of CONCACAF to replace controversial former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, the 47-year-old businessman is more focused on unifying all the Caribbean countries.
Webb said: “This is an incredibly difficult time for Caribbean football and I’m only interested in rebuilding football in the region, moving the agenda forward and establishing new statutes by March.
“I appreciate all the positive blogs and being considered as president of CONCACAF but at this time it is not on my agenda and not a priority. If I’m asked to do it I’m not going to turn my back on football administration which I’ve been involved in for 25 years.
“For the Caribbean Football Union it is just about moving forward. The negative stories have been told over and over. We’re at a huge crossroads and need to restore stability.”
When Warner resigned from FIFA over the cash-for-votes scandal last year, Webb said he was “deeply saddened” but said it was now time to stop all the bickering. “I’d just like to see it resolved so we can all move on,” he said.
Webb is President of the Cayman Islands Football Association and seen by the majority of CONCACAF members as the ideal replacement for Warner when elections are held soon.
The move would satisfy those who believe CONCACAF, which has just replaced one American with another as general secretary – Ted Howard for Chuck Blazer – is dominated by North Americans. Appointing Webb would the restore balance of power at senior executive level though claims that he safeguards CONCACAF’s offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands are way off the mark.
As well as running Cayman Islands football, Webb is also chairman of the nine-man Normalisation Committee trying to restore the Caribbean’s reputation and a member of one of the four task forces created to reform FIFA. It was Webb who suggested a meeting of all CFU presidents with Blatter in Zurich a couple of weeks ago.
“Right now we are trying to stabilise Caribbean football because we’ve lost sight of our core focus which is football. We’ll have new statutes in March ahead of full elections in May. But CONCACAF needs an overhaul as well and I do think I would have a contribution to make.”
Asked to elaborate, he said CONCACAF needs to distribute its funding more equitably. “I’d like to see more of that money helping some of the grassroots programmes in smaller countries, both in the Caribbean and central America.”
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