By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – Disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who is trying every tactic he can to avoid being extradited to the United States to face corruption charges, now says the legal process is taking its toll on his finances and has filed an appeal challenging the order.
The notorious one-time CONCACAF leader, who is alleged to have pocketed millions during his long and controversial career as one of FIFA’s most controversial and outspoken administrators, appeared in court in his native Trinidad last Friday and claimed the go-ahead previously given by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to proceed with the extradition process was illegal.
“I am concerned that the amount of money it will take to defend myself in relation to these charges will drain all of my resources and leave me in a parlous financial state during my last years when I am found not guilty,” said Warner, among those cited for soliciting and/or receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks over two decades.
Arguably the most tainted individual in the history of FIFA, Warner was arrested in June in his homeland and released on $2.5 million bail after being indicted by US authorities on 12 charges of wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
He 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.
Two months ago, four years after he resigned all his FIFA roles rather than face being thrown out, the past came back to haunt him when he was banned for life. FIFA’s ethics committee said he “was found to have committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and CONCACAF.
“In his positions as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, as well as other money-making schemes.”
With the noose tightening around him, Warner, who has hired a powerful legal team, has made it clear he will not go lightly. According to documents supporting his latest court application, Warner claims the US request for extradition contravenes local law in his country. He is also concerned about the high level of bail already agreed with others facing charges in the US, quoting reports from the Cayman Islands that Jeffrey Webb, his successor as CONCACAF president who has already been extradited and is pleading not guilty, was going “broke” in meeting his $10 million bail.
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