Trinidad Court Halts US Extradition of Ex-FIFA VP Jack Warner

A Trinidad and Tobago High Court has ruled that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner will not be extradited to the United States, ending a decade-long legal battle over corruption charges.

Warner, 82, was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2015 on allegations of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery linked to FIFA’s massive corruption scandal. He had been free on $370,000 bail while contesting the case.

Justice Karen Reid, delivering judgment on Tuesday, said flaws in the extradition agreement between Trinidad and the United States invalidated the proceedings. “The present extradition proceedings are permanently stayed,” she declared.

Warner’s lawyer, Fyard Hosein, had argued that no valid extradition treaty existed at the time the U.S. warrant was issued.

The former FIFA strongman, banned for life from football in 2015, was accused of using his influential positions for personal enrichment, including involvement in a 2010 World Cup bribery scheme and voting in favor of Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Speaking to AFP after the verdict, Warner said: “Nothing could take away the pain and humiliation I felt for the past 10 years and don’t forget my incarceration.”

Warner, who once headed the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation and oversaw the country’s historic 2006 World Cup appearance, now walks free after years of legal uncertainty.

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