(Trinidad Express) World football governing body FIFA has said it is withholding the pension of its former vice president and Trinidad and Tobago Works Minister Jack Warner.
Warner resigned from FIFA last June following bribery allegations that saw fellow Vice President Mohamed Bin Hammam banned for life.
But the former TTFF special adviser was still due a pension that could earn him as much as $230,000 (US$36,238) per year until he turns 96 years old.
The FIFA Media Office confirmed that this is not being paid.
“We can confirm that at present Jack Warner is not receiving a FIFA pension,” the FIFA Media Office told internet news site Wired868.com. “Please kindly understand that we are not able to provide you with further details on this matter at this stage.”
FIFA also said it is monitoring Trinidad and Tobago’s football but is not yet ready to act.
On Wednesday, a court-appointed marshal seized all removable assets from the head office of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) on the instructions of 13 members of the 2006 World Cup squad.
The raid followed the TTFF’s failure to make a second interim payment of TT$4.6 million (US$724,000) that was due to the “Soca Warriors” since October 2011. The Warriors already received a payment of TT$7.2 million (US$1,140,384) earlier last year after High Court Judge Devindra Rampersad ruled in February 2011.
The Warriors, the TTFF and its former president Oliver Camps return to court on Tuesday.
“At the time of writing, we have not received any official information from Trinidad and Tobago,” FIFA told Wired868.com. “We are currently monitoring the situation through the media and as such please kindly understand that we are not in a position to make any comments at this stage.”
Warner could not be reached for comment yesterday.
