FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF President Jack Warner will be heading a delegation to Haiti tomorrow (Saturday) to assess the level of damage which has been inflicted on not only his football family but the Caribbean nation following a devastating earthquake over two week ago.

Immediately following the disaster , Warner issued an international call to the football community to support relief efforts; that call resulted in a pledge from the world’s most powerful sporting organization , FIFA , of US $250,000.00, while FIFA Vice President Dr Chung Moon-Joon vowed to donate US 500,000.00 of his personal finds .

Warner, who has also thrown in $100,000.00 of his own money to relief efforts, will be departing Trinidad on a private aircraft for Haiti on Saturday morning.
“I vowed to visit my colleagues in Haiti, our family has suffered tremendously. It is not only the football family that has suffered, but a nation has been ripped apart. It is a humanitarian crisis and we must never turn a blind eye on the fate that has befallen our brothers and sisters.”

Last week, Warner sent CFU’s Vice President Captain Horace Burrell on a fact finding mission to ascertain the extent to which the football community had been affected by the disaster.

The report depicted the grim reality which now faces not only the Haitian Football Community but the people of Haiti.

Excerpt from report

Once a three story magnanimous structure, all that remains is a concrete slab. The stench of death is present everywhere on this island. As we looked at the ruins, I saw three decomposing bodies , visibly mangled in the rubble.
All that it would take is proper equipment to free the bodies, to allow their families the courtesy of a proper funeral. But many on this island have been robbed of that courtesy.

President Jean Bart has confirmed that 30 members of the Federation are dead. Twenty bodies remain mangled beneath the Federation’s headquarters.
Among the dead, Administrators, Referees, Coaches including the HFF’s most experienced coach ,who recently coached the U 17 team in the WC tournament in Korea, Medical Personnel, Players, Office Staff.
The CONCACAF President described the report as emotionally disturbing and heartbreaking.

“ Captain Burrell’s report tugged at my heartstrings. It is from this report that learned that 30 members of my family , our family, the football community perished in the earthquake. The last time I spoke with President Yves Jean Bart, he informed me that in addition to the confirmed causalities , a number of our colleagues remain unaccounted for”.

Warner, who will be attending a meeting in FIFA on Monday , says he intends to write a second report on what he has seen on this island.

“ If I must go with what I have been told then , Depredation and Destruction are the words which seem to describe the atmosphere in Haiti. I do not know what to expect. But I do know that the Football Community stands in solidarity with Haiti. As our brothers and sisters face their darkest hour , we must let them know that they are not alone.”

Warner went on to add “ The sporting community and this island has been desecrated , but what is broken will always be repaired. I intend to raise the Haiti issue at the next CFU Congress, we are administrators in sport , let us use this beautiful game to restore this island. David Rudder’s words seem almost prophetic now, Haiti I’m sorry, one day we will turn our heads, you will restore your glory.”
The Caribbean national who has emerged as a power player in the world of football says he will continue to use his office to raise awareness of the plight which has befallen his Caribbean brothers and sisters.

Warner will return to Trinidad on Sunday night before departing to Zurich on Tuesday morning.