Former FIFA vice president Austin Jack Warner will not be extradited to the United States after a court in Trinidad and Tobago decided not to transfer him to the US.

“I’m relieved, but I want you to understand that this has cost me 10 years of my life, and I want to especially thank my legal team,” Warner said in a statement after Superior Court Judge Karen Reid quashed his extradition.

Warner, 82, faced 29 charges from US authorities for fraud, extortion and illegal wire transfers that allegedly took place in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and other countries between 1990 and 2011.

“I am thrilled, beyond words, relieved that we were able to win this case and that the extradition has been permanently stayed,” added the former president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF).

Jack Warner, one of those implicated in FIFA Gate

Warner is one of the high-ranking FIFA officials indicted following a 2015 investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Justice into corruption in international football.

He was arrested pursuant to an interim warrant in the extradition request and later released on US$369,000 bail.

Former Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle stated in June 2023 that there was no formal written agreement between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States authorizing Warner's extradition.

Warner served as a FIFA vice-president and as the president of Concacaf until his suspension and subsequent resignation in 2011.

Warner was also an elected member of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament from 2007 to 2015 and served as the Minister of National Security in the Caribbean country.