Trinidad and Tobago to rule Friday on extraditing FIFA official Jack Warner

Port of Spain: Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner will learn Friday whether a court will proceed with hearings that could see him eventually extradited to the United States to face charges over a corruption scandal sweeping football`s world governing body.

Warner, 72, who is fighting extradition from his native Trinidad, was indicted in May by a US grand jury on 12 charges of wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

US authorities have charged 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives of soliciting and receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks over two decades.

On July 23, US authorities asked for Warner, a former head of football`s governing body in North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), to be extradited to face the charges.

So far only three of those charged are in the jurisdiction of New York.

Trinidad Attorney General Faris Al Rawi on Monday said the extradition case could proceed, and on Friday a magistrate will decide whether or not to discharge the request by the US.

Warner`s defense is challenging Monday`s decision, noting that Al Rawi`s authorization was signed five days after a deadline set by the court.

Warner and nine other defendants are still fighting extradition to the United States -- six from Switzerland, where they were arrested in a May swoop on a Zurich hotel -- two from Argentina and one from Uruguay.

Warner says that the US case against him is politically motivated and that America is trying to exact revenge because it lost out to Qatar in the vote to host the 2022 World Cup.