Acting Concacaf president Lisle Austin 'terminates' Chuck Blazer as secretary general

UPDATE 01:13 WEDNESDAY - Concacaf have issued a statement announcing that Blazer continues in his role and that Austin's attempts to remove him are 'unauthorised.' See here for more details.

Acting Concacaf president Lisle Austin has wasted no time settling into his new role, opting to sack American secretary-general Chuck Blazer mere days into his tenure for what he describes as "gross misconduct of duty and judgement."

Austin is a close friend and ally of previous president Jack Warner who is currently suspended pending the outcome of a corruption investigation that also involves former Fifa presidential hopeful Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Blazer's treatment at the hands of Austin comes as little surprise. The interim president was reportedly furious with the veteran American for working with a US law firm in an attempt to delve deeper into allegations of corruption that have long since plagued Concacaf.

The secretary-general held that his retaining the lawyers was perfectly in line with his role in the organisation. Austin clearly disagrees, as his letter of termination to Blazer makes plain.

The letter "from the office of the acting president", seen by Goal.com, was sent shortly before midnight on Tuesday and addressed to Chuck Blazer. Rather than being dispatched to his residence in the United States, though, it was sent to his hotel room in Switzerland, where he is in attendance at the Fifa Congress.

Lisle gives four reasons for the sacking, which are:

• That Blazer 'insulted and defamed' the Caribbean nations of Concacaf
• That he continues to employ the American law firm aiding his investigations
• That he failed to invite Austin to the Concacaf Caucus prior to Wednesday's FIFA Congress
• That he appointed un-elected Concacaf members as delegates to the Fifa Congress, instead of eligible members including [Austin].

Blazer has maintained throughout that he is acting both in the spirit of honesty and in line with the rules governing his role of secretary-general.

The American is called upon to "appear at the offices of Concacaf" with all of his Concacaf effects - laptop, equipment, financial records, books and all - for presentation to Lisle personally.

Also receiving the letter are Fifa president Sepp Blatter, general secretary Jerome Valcke, and all relevant Concacaf and other confederation parties.