Trinidad and Tobago’s attorney-general Garvin Nicholas has received a US request for the extradition of Jack Warner, telling reporters his office will evaluate the documents from the US Justice Department.
Warner is due to appear before a court on 27 July. He is resisting extradition on US charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering in the ongoing Fifa corruption case. The 72-year-old has also been accused of stealing aid money intended for the victim of the Haiti earthquake.
Warner is out on bail, has consistently maintained his innocence and claims he will not receive a fair trial in the United States. The former head of CONCACAF also claims he will prove a link between FIFA and the outcome of his nation’s elections in 2010.
Trinidad legal experts believe Warner’s extradition could take up to five years to resolve – by which time he will be 77.
US prosecutors allege South Africa paid $10m in 2008 to Warner and two other Fifa executives as payment for them supporting its bid to host the 2010 World Cup.
Football Federation Australia has also alleged Warner stole $500,000 from Australia’s failed 2022 World Cup bid, syphoning payment intended for CONCACAF to be used to build a centre of excellence.
FFA president Frank Lowy said in June that Australia’s A$46 million bid for the tournament, which received just a single vote, was doomed from the start.
The Australian Federal Police are investigating the bid for irregularities.
Jeffrey Webb, Warner’s successor at CONCACAF, recently agreed to be extradited to the United States after being detained at this year’s Fifa conress in Zurich.
