Disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner scoffed Friday at reports that the new leaders of the global football governing body are seeking to sue him, insisting FIFA owes him money.
“I don’t owe FIFA one nickel and I know that FIFA owes me, but we will deal with that in the fullness of time,” Warner said, addressing reporters on the steps of the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain.
Warner said that since his resignation in 2011, he has not been paid a pension of US $100,000 a year.
“I don’t even think the FIFA you’re talking about is the FIFA I know,” Warner said when asked for his reaction to the suit.
On Wednesday FIFA filed requests for restitution with US authorities to reclaim an estimated $190 million which 39 former FIFA executive members, regional football officials, sports marketing moguls and two companies indicted in the United States are accused of embezzling over decades.
Newly elected FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: “The defendants diverted this money not just from FIFA but from players, coaches and fans worldwide who benefit from the programs that FIFA runs to develop and promote football.”
The new FIFA executive says a $10 million payment from South Africa to CONCACAF — soccer’s governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean which was led by Warner at the time — was a bribe in exchange for votes in the 2010 World Cup bid process.
Warner was in court on Friday for a hearing in his legal challenge to extradition proceedings filed against him by the United States.
He is challenging the legality of the extradition treaty that exists between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
Several procedural matters remain to be dealt with. Another hearing was set for June 3.
