CONCACAF STATEMENT

NEW YORK (Friday, 19 October 2007) - CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) has issued the following statement today:

Re: Letters from BBC Panorama

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Panorama's letters to Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer asking whether England can expect Fair Play in a potential bid to host World Cup 2018 are truly curious given that Warner and Blazer are the only two remaining members of the FIFA Executive Committee of the original five that voted for England's previous World Cup bid (for 2006).

The other three, Charlie Dempsey (New Zealand with Scottish birth), David Will (FIFA Vice President from the British Associations) and Isaac Sasso Sasso (Costa Rica, also from CONCACAF) no longer sit on the decision making body. Dempsey left shortly after his refusal to vote in the round following England's elimination for 2006, while Will and Sasso retired from the FIFA body this year.

Certainly, if anyone personifies fair play towards England, Warner and Blazer, who supported England's 2006 bid and in doing so stood against the 19 other members opposed, are the ones.

Panorama might have asked instead, will it be Fair Play if CONCACAF, the Confederation next in sequence for rotation of World Cup hosts, is denied the right for one of its members to host 2018 in favor of another system instigated by the desire of others to overturn a policy intended to establish fairness?