NEW YORK, USA (AFP) — Ted Howard was promoted to acting general secretary of North American regional football governing body CONCACAF yesterday after the resignation of Chuck Blazer from the job became official.

Howard, 66, has been CONCACAF deputy general secretary since 1998. He serves on FIFA’s referees and stadium security committees.

Blazer, who had been general secretary since 1990, announced in October he would leave at the end of the year. He remains on FIFA’s executive committee.

Last May, it was Blazer who said that CONCACAF President Jack Warner and Asian confederation supremo Mohamed bin Hammam tried to bribe Caribbean delegates to vote for bin Hammam in FIFA’s presidential election.

CONCACAF has not yet selected a new president since Warner resigned the job in the wake of the scandal that brought down bin Hammam.

Howard served as director and group manager of NBA Marketing from 1988 until joining CONCACAF a decade later. He was executive director of the North American Soccer League from 1971 until it folded in 1984.