UPDATE: Arrest warrant issued for Jack Warner in FIFA corruption probe
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for former FIFA vice president Jack Warner at the request of authorities in the United States, where he was one of 14 people linked to international soccer indicted on corruption charges.
The Attorney General for Trinidad and Tobago said it had been working with the US Department of Justice for about a year regarding the investigation of Warner, who was forced out of FIFA in 2011 over a bribery scandal.
Warner, who is an Opposition member of Parliament in the twin-island nation, can be extradited to the US under a bilateral treaty following a hearing.
“Mr Warner is entitled to a fair extradition process and both the requesting and requested States intend to abide by the provisions of the treaty to ensure that Mr Warner’s rights are respected,” the attorney general said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Warner denied any wrongdoing, as he has previously when confronted with allegations that he enriched himself while an official with the global soccer governing body and as a president of CONCACAF, the federation’s North American regional organisation.
Warner, who left soccer in 2011 to avoid FIFA sanctions in a bribery scandal during that year’s FIFA presidential election, said he was not questioned in the probe that led to the indictment and to guilty pleas to related charges for two of his sons.
“I have been afforded no due process and I have not even been questioned in this matter,” he said in a statement. “I reiterate that I am innocent of any charges. I have walked away from the politics of world football to immerse myself in the improvement of lives in this country where I shall, God willing, die.”
In a brief phone conversation with The Associated Press, Warner declined to comment further and said he did not have enough information about the guilty pleas of his sons to comment. “I can’t say anything about what I don’t know about.”
Warner represents the constituency of Chaguanas West in Parliament. His term is due to expire when the session ends June 17. He can be extradited to the United States under a bilateral treaty.
Later, he told TV6 that US authorities “know where to find me” and added “I sleep very soundly in the night.”