Members of FIFA and the National Organizing Committee (NOC) including Victor Montagliani the chairman of the NOC and CSA President (centre) attend the official draw for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 at The Canadian Museum of History.
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He pledged to ensure that CONCACAF becomes a “democratic” and transparent organization, and recover some of the $190 million seized by United States authorities to share it among member associations.
The Congress is being chaired by CONCACAF Council vice president Justino Compean of Mexico. The group has been trying to recover after being one of the worst affected by a USA justice department probe which has so far led to charges filed against more than 40 officials from around the world.
Of CONCACAF’s three previous presidents, two are awaiting sentencing and a third is fighting extradition on charges arising from the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into corruption in world football.
Rodolfo Villalobos of Costa Rica was elected to the CONCACAF Council as a vice-president.
CONCACAF were given a boost earlier this week with the news that Federation Internationale de Football Association was unfreezing $10 million (£7 million/€8.8 million) worth of funding it blocked in the wake of the corruption scandal.
Montagliani, acclaimed last Saturday for a second four-year term as president of the Canadian Soccer Association, already had good ties with FIFA and Thursday’s election win moves him further into world soccer’s inner circle.
Montagliani (50), from Vancouver, now has the job of cleaning up the association, which has been one of the most tainted sports bodies in the world.
Montagliani’s immediate priority is ensuring the Centennial Copa America runs smoothly in the United States next month.
The FIFA council made reference to that Monday when it released its four-phased bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, saying the “eligibility of confederations to bid” should be made public in October 2016 when there will also be a decision on the number of teams and format.
“I come from a small island country, and Victor comes from a huge country, Canada, so therefore we probably look at things slightly differently”, Mussenden said.
Warner was succeeded in 2012 by Jeffrey Webb, but he was forced out of office when he also was indicted last May. He pleaded guilty in November to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, and agreed to forfeit more than US$6.7 million.
Alfredo Hawit replaced Webb, but the Honduran didn’t last long. He was arrested in December in a second wave of Federation Internationale de Football Association indictments and pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
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“I can’t answer that today on behalf of our association, if there is a mutual bid with other countries and other stadiums”, he said of the possible surface that would be part of a Canadian bid.
