Embattled former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, one of the many officials of Football's highest governing body who are currently battling corruption allegations, brought further shame on himself and the organization when he cited a fictional news story from the Onion in a video on his official Facebook page.
Warner, who was arrested last week during the United States Justice Department's surprise crackdown against FIFA corruption, posted the video in an attempt to defend himself against the allegations being levied against him. At one point in the video, Warner holds up a printed copy of the Onion article, labelling it evidence of an American conspiracy against FIFA and himself.
Last week The Onion, a popular website known for its 'spoof' news articles, published a fictional story entitled "FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in United States". The article pokes fun at the current predicament FIFA is in, suggesting that the World Cup is being moved to the US to appease officials who have been critical of the organization's controversial decision to award the next two World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
It seems that the 72 year-old Warner, a Trinidad and Tobago politician, was unaware of the pieces' satirical nature as he accused the US of showing 'double standards' toward FIFA in one part of an 8-minute long video rant that has since been taken down from his social media pages.
It has been a rough week for Warner and the organization that presides over the most popular sport in the world. A few days ago in Zurich, Swiss Police detained several FIFA executives on allegations of bribery and racketeering. Hours later in the United States, Federal Agents stormed the headquarters of CONCACAF, Football's governing body in North and Central America, to seize key documents which link it to FIFA's decades spanning global network of corruption.
