Captain Horace Burrell

Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell, has sought to clear the air as to why a six-month suspension was imposed on him by FIFA's Ethics Committee last October.

Burrell resumed leadership of the JFF on January 15 after serving three months of the FIFA ban, with the other three suspended for two years.

The ban was for Burrell's reported ethics violation in relation to the alleged Caribbean Football Union (CFU) cash-for-votes bribery scandal in Trinidad and Tobago last year, in which former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam was said to have offered bribes of US$40,000 to several Caribbean Football Union officials in return for votes.

none benefited

"That is a closed matter, but I want to use this opportunity since obviously many people are not sure, I did not benefit from any monetary gain from that meeting in Trinidad, neither did Bruce Gaynor, my vice-president who attended, neither Horace Reid, neither Jamaica, so none of us benefited from any monetary gains," Burrell stated following yesterday's handover ceremony of two vehicles to the federation by Stewart's Auto Sales at its showroom.

Burrell reasoned that his suspension arouse from his failure to initially corporate with investigations, which violated the football world governing body's code of ethics.

"Initially, we did not fully cooperate with the investigators. No one wanted to cooperate, but after a while we realised that it was important to cooperate and to clear the air, which was done," Burrell shared.

Burrell was not reappointed to FIFA's Disciplinary Committee which he served on for over 12 years. He, however, does not feel slighted by this and is expecting an even more significant appointment in a matter of days.

"In fact, I expect that within the next 48 hours I will be on another committee," Burrell disclosed. "It will be a very, very important committee and within a matter of days this announcement will be made and this new committee will be considered an even more senior appointment in the whole system," he added.

Stewart's Automotive Group yesterday renewed its relationship with the JFF, as it donated two more vehicles to the programme to aid in the Reggae Boyz's preparations for the 2014 World Cup to be staged in Brazil. Stewart's latest donations of a SX4 Sedan and a Suzuki eight-seater brings to seven the number of vehicles that the company has made available to the federation and has committed to maintain. The automotive company had previously handed over four SX4 1600 CC Suzuki sedans and an X3 BMW.

Stewart's has sponsored the federation since 1998 and its new partnership will run until 2014 and is valued in the region of $30m.

Diana Stewart (left), managing director, Stewart's Automotive Group, hands over the keys to two vehicles to Captain Horace Burrell (second right), president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), as an extension of Stewart's Auto Sales' sponsorship to the JFF. The presentation took place at the showroom of Stewart's Auto Sales, 6 Orchard Road, St Andrew, yesterday. Looking on is Richard Stewart (second left), chairman, Stewart's Automotive Group, Alfredo Montesso (right), assistant national team coach and Theodore Whitmore, national team coach. - Rudolph Brown