Warner breaks silence on 2018 vote with half-baked apology to England and Prince William

October 31 - Jack Warner, football's most wanted man and banned for life for corruption, has broken his silence by voting for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.

Warner, the former FIFA Vice President and former Concacaf President, is one of the most influential figures in the notorious FifaGate scandal that brought the world governing body to its knees.

Still a free man in his native Trinidad, he is accused by US authorities of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering and corruption and could spend the rest of his life in prison if extradition proceedings are in progress succeeds. It is estimated that he embezzled more than $40 million from his influence in football.

Warner has fallen out of favor after being banned following an investigation into the bidding contest for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

But in an exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper, he accused the United States of harming his family and said he did not regret voting for Russia, although he was accused of accepting a $5 million bribe. At no time does Warner deny accepting a bribe.

Warner, who for 30 years rubbed shoulders with all sorts of football and political bigwigs, flew first class and stayed in the best hotels, reportedly originally promised he would vote for England in 2018 after bragging about meeting the royals.

But he told the Mail on Sunday: "At the end when I sat down I realized that England had hosted the World Cup (in 1966). Russia had never hosted and I felt it was Russia's turn. When I sit down now, I have no reason to complain because I feel I did the right thing."

Apologizing for misleading the UK campaign team, including David Beckham, Prince William and then Prime Minister David Cameron, he added: "I thought it was time for Russia to organize a World Cup and I have no regrets."

Now 79, Warner is also widely considered to have played a major role in Qatar winning the vote to host this year's tournament.

He says he will support England on the pitch next month, but not the United States.

“America has hurt me and my family and so I feel pain with America so I hope they get eliminated first. But beyond that I don't care ."

"I have isolated myself from criticism and [from] football. Otherwise, I would have already died. I won't watch it and I don't even want to hear about it. I deliberately live in a kind of cocoon. I have migrated internally, for lack of a better term, and so those things don't worry me anymore."

Although he maintains he has nothing to do with football, he was an adviser behind the group - led by his former winger Keith Look Loy - who orchestrated William Wallace's campaign to win the Presidency of the Federation of Trinidad and Tobago. He also submitted an unsubstantiated claim of TT$7 million to the insolvency practitioner responsible for TTFA debt issues. This request was rejected, but had it passed, the funds provided to the TTFA to settle the debt would likely have been withdrawn.

Warner says he has been 'harassed' by international media since the FIFA corruption scandal broke. “The media hates me. I can never have a fair trial. That's why I never spoke."

After a long legal battle, the United States learned that he could be extradited to face justice in 2016. However, after a series of appeals, in 2020 Warner received final approval to challenge the extradition proceedings against him before the Privy Council, the final court of appeal in London. This case was heard in May of this year and a decision is still awaited.

If Warner is extradited, he has promised a tsunami of new information about FIFA alumni corruption. Jeff Webb, who literally picked up where Warner left off, both as Concacaf president and with his own string of corrupt schemes, is currently awaiting sentencing in the United States. His sentencing has been postponed more than 11 times.

Contact the author of this story at moc.l1667328893labto1667328893ofdlr1667328893owedi1667328893sni@w1667328893ahsra1667328893w.wer1667328893dna1667328893