MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Trinidad & Tobago will be included in next week’s draw for the 2021 Gold Cup despite the country’s suspension by world governing body Fifa, Concacaf said yesterday.

A statement from the regional body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) said the federation would take a wait-and-see approach before deciding whether Trinidad & Tobago would compete in the tournament.

If Fifa’s suspension remained in force up to December 18, 2020, Trinidad & Tobago would be replaced in the preliminary draw by Antigua and Barbuda.

Fifa suspended Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday for “grave violations” of its statutes following a local court challenge to its imposition of a new committee, following serious mismanagement.

It was the latest chapter of a turbulent relationship between Fifa and the Caribbean island nation’s football authorities.

In May, Swiss prosecutors opened a fresh investigation which marked the latest in a string of allegations involving Trinidad’s long-serving Fifa official Jack Warner.

The former Fifa vice-president, who has been banned from football for life, is battling extradition to the United States to face charges of racketeering and conspiracy as part of a global graft probe into world football’s governing body.

The Swiss investigation targeted former Fifa chief Sepp Blatter for suspected criminal mismanagement of funds over a decade-old $1-million payment.

The probe is connected with a loan Fifa gave to the TTFA in 2010, which was given interest-free, with no collateral, and was quickly forgiven as a “subsidy”, a document seen by AFP showed.