Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner has secured a permanent victory in his decade-long fight against extradition to the United States, where he faces corruption charges linked to one of football’s largest scandals.
Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court on Tuesday halted the proceedings, ruling that the extradition process was invalid because no official treaty exists between the two countries.
Warner, 82, was among 14 officials indicted by US prosecutors in 2015 on 47 counts, including racketeering and bribery. Although his appeal was dismissed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London in 2022, his lawyers successfully argued earlier this month that the absence of a formal treaty made extradition impossible. State attorneys did not oppose the claim.
Justice Karen Reid upheld the defence’s position, effectively ending the case.
Reacting to the judgment, Warner told the Associated Press he felt vindicated but lamented the toll of the lengthy process. “My life can now begin afresh, but it’s 10 years too late,” he said.
Warner, who resigned from FIFA in 2011 amid a bribery scandal, has consistently denied wrongdoing. US prosecutors allege he accepted $5 million in bribes to back Russia’s 2018 World Cup bid. He also previously served as a government minister and member of parliament in Trinidad and Tobago.
