By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Disgraced former CONCACAF president Jack Warner has won more time in his bid to avoid being extradited to the United States on corruption charges.
Authorities in Trinidad, having agreed in principle to extradition after attorney General Faris Al Rawi signed “authority to proceed” documents, postponed a crucial hearing on Friday after Warner’s attorneys requested more time so they could travel to the US to discuss terms.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington said the hearing will now take place on December 2.
Warner is fighting extradition on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering and has to report twice weekly to a police station.
Friday’s ruling came on the very same day prosecutors in Switzerland opened criminal proceedings against FIFA President Sepp Blatter for possible criminal mismanagement and misappropriation of FIFA’s money.
Warner told a local station he would not comment on any of the cases.
“I’m not answering anything about Sepp Blatter or Jack Warner or Sepp Mother or Sepp Sister,” he said. “I have nothing to say. Let the feeding frenzy continue.”
Warner, one of the most powerful figures in world football during his long tenure at FIFA when he frequently courted controversy, is among nine major footballing officials along with five sports marketing executives indicted by US prosecutors. The 72-year-old faces 12 charges related to racketeering and bribery.
Arrested in June in his homeland and released on bail, Warner has denied all wrongdoing but among the charges laid against him is that he profited personally from a $10 million payment from South African football officials to CONCACAF, which US prosecutors claim was linked to Warner’s support for South Africa’s bid to host the 2010 World Cup even though the South Africans insist it was destined for the African diaspora in the region.
Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney-General whose bombshell allegations of $150 million worth of money laundering and racketeering plunged FIFA into unprecedented turmoil, said earlier this month she was confident all those charges in the indictment would eventually be brought to stand trial and that in certain cases, they could be tried in absentia. But some legal sources in Trinidad say it could take years rather than months before the Warner case is concluded.
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