Posted on January 6, 2012
By Michael Lewis
TropiGol.com Editor
As the acting general secretary of CONCACAF, Ted Howard sees his biggest challenge as unifying the confederation in the wake of the bribery scandal in the FIFA presidential election that cost CONCACAF president Jack Warner and vice president Lisle Austin their jobs.
Several high-ranking Caribbean Football Union officials also were suspended and there has been a mistrust of the confederation’s hierarchy by the many Caribbean federations.
“One of the biggest things is trying to bring the confederation back together,” Howard said in a telephone interview. “With the Caribbean group, with some of the things that happened there and everything, it has made it more difficult for unity within the confederation The top priority is that we will work on things and ways of bringing the family back together because that’s really where our greatest strength is.”
Howard took over as acting general secretary on Monday, replacing Chuck Blazer, who had resigned after 21 years as of Dec. 31. Blazer, the whistle blower in the scandal, said he stepped down to go after other soccer pursuits.
Howard’s responsibilities are many. He is to take on the day-to-day duties as a general secretary, try to find a way to unify the organization and look for a permanent general secretary.
But before he can find a successor to Blazer, Howard’s main concerns are to make sure the confederations runs smoothly and 2012 faces a crowded schedule in CONCACAF’s four-year cycle.
“There are some other responsibilities that are more urgent,” he said. “This is only a few days old. There are other responsibilities that take priority to that at the moment. There are certain things that we have to get moving on. We have things that have to get taken care of before we get into the whole realm of searching for someone else. We have to get some things established here before we move forward.”
There is little doubt that 2011 was the confederation’s most tumultuous year with Warner and Blazer resigning.
“I think the main thing is that we stayed on task in regard to all of our requirements and responsibilities in providing our qualifying teams for FIFA tournaments because that is probably our most significant responsibility and something that I have overseen for years,” Howard said. “We’ve stayed on task in regards to that.
“There are certain things from a governance standpoint in getting some decisions made at the higher end everything else that have been much more difficult because off other things that have been going on with the lawsuit in the Bahamas and all of that, which has made it more difficult for us to make certain decisions. But the things that you are required to do by FIFA and move forward are getting done. The schedules are moving forward.”
Howard was optimistic that he will be able to mend some of the problems with the Caribbean countries.
“I think time will heal some of the wounds and people will realize that I have worked very well with both sides of the confederation, all three sides so speak because we have the Caribbean, Central Americans and North Americans,” he said. “The main thing, as I mentioned before is to do our qualifying competition. to get those done. And that’s really the thing that we’re all about. The other stuff is on the periphery. It’s just stuff that has to be work its way out and we find ways of getting the people to work together in various capacities, so that there’s an understanding that we have got to be unified.”
There has been talk and rumors about the CFU possibly breaking away from CONCACAF.
“I have not been part of those conversations, so I am not privy to any of that,” Howard said. “I can’t see that makes a whole hell a lot of sense at this point. It’s really of matter of where we’ve got to go from here and keep the 35, 40 countries together.”
This year will be the busiest of the four-year cycle that revolves around the World Cup. Besides the semifinal World Cup qualifying round, there are qualifying tournaments for the men’s and women’s Olympics, the Under-17 and U-20 women’s qualifying tournament, Futsal qualifying and Beach Soccer.
“This is the most difficult of all of the qualifying years,” Howard said. “There’s never another year where we have so many things happening. All those pieces come together. We really have to stay focused on making sure that all of those events come off as well as we can make sure they do.”
Howard certainly has the background to run the CONCACAF show, having worked with two major leagues — as executive director of the original North American Soccer League from 1971-1984 and as director and group manager of NBA Marketing from 1988-1998 after a four-year stint as director of marketing for Ohlmeyer Communications. He has been CONCACAF deputy general secretary since 1998.
Given the many tasks and priorities on his desk these days, finding a new general secretary is not high on the list. CONCACAF is not ready for a search yet and a list of criteria has not been created yet.
Asked if he had any interest in making the acting position permanent, Howard replied, “It’s one of those things that you see how everything goes and where it’s going and how its worked and whether people are happy with what you have done and then you move forward in that direction.”
The CONCACAF Executive Committee will decide whether the organization’s main headquarters will be, Howard said.
And CONCACAF won’t be able to move forward about finding a successor to Warner until the lawsuit in the Bahamas is sorted out. Austin Lisle of Barbados, then CONCACAF vice president, assumed the president’s duties and subsequently fired Blazer as general secretary. However, the confederation’s board of directors removed Lisle because he was not following CONCACAF statues. Alfredo Hawit of Honduras was named the interim president. Lisle, meanwhile, has pursued a lawsuit in the Bahamas against those actions.
“We can’t do anything until we have another Congress and we get some things cleared up,” Howard said. “This lawsuit in the Bahamas has prevented us from moving any of that too far forward. We can’t do anything with their current situation with Lisle Austin. So based on that at this point, we have to go with the situation as it is and hope some of that gets resolved.”
On Dec. 20, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that FIFA might consider intervening with CONCACAF if it did not get its leadership act in order in wake of the court case in the Bahamas.
“Over the next few months FIFA may have no other solution but to intervene as we would if a national association were not working in accord with FIFA statutes,” Blatter told KeirRadnedge.com. “But there is a legal aspect: a confederation is not directly a member of FIFA so we will have to wait.”
Howard declined to respond on Blatter’s comments.
“I would prefer not to comment on this since I have not had a conversation about this or know in what context,” Howard said.
Photo: Acting CONCACAF general secretary Ted Howard says his top priorities are to keep the confederation unified and to make sure it meets all of its obligations. Andy Mead/YCJ
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Tags: Alfredo Hawit, Caribbean Football Union, Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF, CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF Gold Cup, FIFA, Jack Warner, Lisle Austin, NBA, North American Soccer League, Sepp Blazer, Ted Howard
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