FIFA vice-president Jack Warner said Haiti’s football will rise again after the local game suffered grave losses in the deadly earthquake which has claimed almost 200,000 lives, most of them in the capital Port-au-Prince.

On a visit to the devastated Caribbean island, Warner vowed that the wider football family has committed to rally together in the rebuilding of the football infrastructure, which was almost totally wiped out when the 7.0-magnitude quake struck two weeks ago today.

“I have not seen it all, but I have seen enough to know that our family has suffered great losses. This site was once a hub of activity; it was our building, our colleagues, our friends, our family still lay buried here,” said Warner at the site where the three-storey Haitian Football Federation (HFF) secretariat once stood. “But today I publicly say, like a phoenix, the HFF shall rise again. From these ashes, we shall grow stronger… we shall rebuild this building (and) we must never forget what has happened here,” said the president of the CFU and CONCACAF.

President of the HFF, Dr Yves Jean Bart, said about 30 members of the football family perished in the quake. Dr Jean Bart, who was badly injured when the HFF building came tumbling, outlined to Warner that while the football fraternity continues to provide a sense of strength to its members, they have been unable to perform any administrative duties since the disaster.

“I run the office from my BlackBerry phone, it is the only piece of equipment which remains from the Federation,” he said.

Warner said as a temporary measure, he will propose that the operations of the HFF be relocated to the Goal Project Office.

“Relocation is one step, but we cannot wait, we must resume operations, we must take hold of this situation and move forward. The office must resume operations,” said the Trinidadian who also serves as chairman of Trinidad’s main opposition party, the United National Congress (UNC).

The first football official on the ground in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the quake was president of the Jamaica Football Federation, Captain Horace Burrell. It was his report back to the football hierarchy that opened eyes and revealed to the world the true extent of the damage to the football assets.

At the upcoming CFU congress slated for month’s-end in Trinidad, the Haiti situation is expected to be discussed extensively with a view to establishing a Caribbean co-ordinated response to the crisis.

At the CFU congress, Warner is expected to ask his fellow Caribbean nationals to “open their homes to the Haitian football family”.

“President Dr Jean Bart has informed me that all of the footballers are accounted for, but these young men and women must not be allowed to dwell on fate, they must be allowed to continue to utilise their God-given talent to continue to inspire their nation,” Warner said.

The CFU membership will be asked to house Haitian players for periods ranging from six to 12 months, allowing them to continue playing in various clubs until the HFF resumes full operations.

For the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, Warner promised those gathered at the HFF site that he will be requesting from FIFA to install massive television screens in various public places, allowing the public to view the games.

FIFA has already released some US$250,000 towards relief efforts in Haiti, but more help in various forms is expected to some. Warner himself has made available US$150,000 of his own funds, so too another FIFA vice-president, Korean Dr Mong-Joon Chung, who committed US$500,000.

Warner is due to present a report on Haiti to FIFA tomorrow.