CONCACAF had regained
credibility, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said, after Jeffrey
Webb of the Cayman Island Football Association was elected
president of the troubled confederation on Wednesday.
Webb, 47, the president of his country's FA, takes over from
the disgraced Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice-president for
the region that incorporates North and Central America and the
Carribbean.
CONCACAF was thrown into turmoil after Trinidadian Warner,
president for 21 years, resigned from all football positions in
June last year after he was suspended by FIFA following
allegations in a cash-for-votes scandal in the run-up to the
presidential election.
Warner's long-established right-hand man, American general
secretary Chuck Blazer, also quit the body at the end of 2011.
Blatter told delegates at the CONCACAF Congress in the
Hungarian capital: "You have taken a great step forward. The
credibility of CONCACAF is back, and this is very important
because in FIFA we need our credibility back, and we cannot have
it if one of the big confederations was still a little bit
shaky."
Webb, in his opening address, drew applause when he said:
"Our past will never be repeated."
Webb did not ignore the troubles of the past, adding: "We
must move the clouds and allow the sunshine in.
"It is a new day for CONCACAF, a new chapter. Our past will
not define us, we will define our future and we must decide our
destiny.
"We have a great confederation that represents 540 million
people who rely on you and me to provide hope and that is what
our game is.
"We have a responsibility to make sure the past will never
be repeated."
Webb said the time had also come for CONCACAF teams to do
far better in international competition.
Addressing Michel Platini, the UEFA president and a guest on
the podium: he said: "We must set our goals sky-high. We must
say to Michel Platini and UEFA, that CONCACAF will win the World
Cup. We must say to President Blatter and the FIFA Executive Committee that the 2026 World Cup belongs to CONCACAF."
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