‘A very negative figure for football’ – FIFA president Infantino throws cold water on Warner legacy

FIFA president Gianni Infantino did not mince words in reference to former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, insisting he had very little regard for the embattled official.

Infantino was recently in Trinidad and Tobago for the opening ceremony of a new hotel at the home of football in Couva.

“A very instrumental, negative figure for football, unfortunately,” was the FIFA President’s blunt assessment of Warner’s legacy when asked by the local media.

“I don’t need to say anything about that. The courts have spoken about that and will continue to speak about that,” he added.

Warner, who was also a former CONCACAF president and special advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), was banned from the sport for life in 2015, in light of his alleged involvement in money laundering and wire fraud. Warner is currently battling extradition to the United States. In 2015, the former government minister was one of several other FIFA officials arrested in Zurich before the annual FIFA Congress.

Earlier this year a United States court ruled that Warner should repay US$79 million that he had fraudulently obtained from CONCACAF.