A London court has ruled that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner can be extradited from Trinidad to the United States to face corruption charges. According to Reuters, Warner’s lawyers had argued that his extradition was unlawful the Privy Council, the highest court of appeal for this country, unanimously dismissed his appeal.

The corruption charges stem from the 2010 votes by FIFA’s executive to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar.

In 2020 a U.S. Department of Justice indictment said bribes were paid to football officials to secure their votes for hosting rights. At that time the DOJ alleged that then FIFA vice-president Warner was paid $5 million through various shell companies to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.

Warner was suspended by FIFA in 2011 and in 2015, charged with wire fraud, racketeering and money-laundering by the U.S. and FIFA banned him from all soccer-related activity for life in 2015.

Warner responds:

The former CONCACAF president issued a statement via his official page on Facebook. He said that he was confident that he would not be extradited and questioned the decision.

Check out his response below:

“Since receiving the decision of the Privy Council, I have conferred with my lawyers and do wish to state that:

FIFA is an independent association not affiliated to any government or country. At all times it sought, in the interest of football, to offer opportunities to the widest cross section of the international community to host the World Cup. Particular attention was paid to developing countries who have been denied economic opportunity partly because for long periods they were under colonial domination.

Against that background FIFA gave preference to South Africa, Russia and Qatar to host World Cup Finals. Naturally, the United States of America and the United Kingdom who had previously hosted the World Cup were not selected despite sustained lobbying.

They were therefore not pleased and thereafter began a campaign against FIFA which resulted in the arrest and prosecution of several Executive Committee members of FIFA who had assembled for a meeting in Zurich. I note that several European countries including France and Switzerland, several Latin American countries, including Brazil, and several African and Middle Eastern countries have refused to extradite their citizens. Trinidad and Tobago is therefore an outlier.

I have no banking account nor property in the United States. I have not transacted any business there. It is unfathomable how a New York District Attorney could commence a prosecution against me based solely on the fact that monies payable to me passed through the American banking system. Furthermore, it is incredulous that allegations of misconduct arising out of a FIFA meeting held in Trinidad could be prosecuted in the United States whereas, in Trinidad itself it does not constitute criminal activity.

I continue to have confidence in my team led by Fyard Hosein Senior Counsel, and I have advised them to continue to press my case on the three remaining stages of these proceedings. I have lived in this country for nearly eighty years, and I am confident that I will continue to receive the love, affection, and respect that people from all walks of life have always extended to me. I am certain I will prevail in the end.

For the time being, this is all I am prepared to say in this matter.”