One of the top figures implicated in the FIFA corruption scandal has threatened to release documents allegedly chronicling “financial transactions” involving Sepp Blatter, the organization’s embattled president who is stepping down.
Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner claimed the documents — which he likened to an “avalanche” — also linked soccer’s governing body to the general election of 2010 in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
Warner said he has handed the “comprehensive and detailed series of documents, including checks and corroborated statements,” to a third party, claiming: “I reasonably, actually fear for my life.”
Related: FIFA executive committee member Blazer admitted bribes
He added: “Retracting them is not a possibility; there can be no turning back.”
Speaking in an eight-minute paid political advertisement entitled “The Gloves are Off,” Warner likened himself to a “lone soldier” and quoted Mahatma Gandhi.
He is facing charges including to racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. The Department of Justice also revealed last week that Warner’s sons, Daryll and Daryan, pleaded guilty in 2013 to charges including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
Blatter was not named in the DOJ’s 160-page indictment, but he announced Tuesday he will step down in the wake of the allegations.
Warner, who is Blatter’s former deputy, said the documents included his “knowledge of financial transactions at FIFA, including, but not limited to, its president, Mr. Sepp Blatter.”
He said they also detailed “the link between FIFA, its funding, and me … and the people’s partnership government [ruling coalition] in the general election of 2010.”
Warner added: “I will no longer keep secrets for them who actively seek to destroy the country.” Related: FIFA president Sepp Blatter to resign Warner was re-elected during the 2010 election and served as a government minister in Trinidad and Tobago until he left in April 2013 to form the Independent Liberal Party. At a political rally held half an hour after the address, Warner added: “Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming,” according to The Associated Press. “Blatter knows why he fell. And if anyone else knows, I do,” he said. His statement comes hours after details were revealed of a deal between American Chuck Blazer and U.S. officials. Blazer, who formerly served as a high-ranking FIFA official, admitted taking bribes in connection with the 1998 and 2010 World Cups. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com
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