Concacaf and its former president Jack Warner are engaged in settlement negotiations to resolve a US$37.8 million lawsuit over the ownership of the Centre of Excellence in Macoya, Trinidad and Tobago. The case, which returned to the High Court on October 14, 2026, was adjourned to February 26 to allow both parties additional time for discussions. Concacaf\u2019s attorney, Jonathan Walker, expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached without protracted litigation, stating that progress had been made with Warner\u2019s legal team, led by Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein.<\/p>\n
The dispute centres on the Macoya complex, a sprawling facility that includes a 44-room hotel, swimming pools, restaurants, conference rooms, a gym, and the Marvin Lee Stadium. Concacaf alleges that funds allocated for the project were misappropriated through a conspiracy involving Warner, his wife Maureen, their companies Renraw Investments Ltd and CCAM and Company Ltd, accountant Kenny Rampersad, and his firm. Warner has denied wrongdoing, arguing that the delay in filing the lawsuit has made it difficult to recall transaction details. His wife and the companies have also denied involvement, while Rampersad maintains he provided only secretarial services and had no fiduciary duty to Concacaf.<\/p>\n
The legal battle traces back to 2011, when Warner\u2019s successor, Jeffrey Webb, launched an integrity investigation into Warner and former Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer. This probe later became part of a broader U.S. Department of Justice investigation into corruption in international football, implicating Warner, Blazer, and other FIFA officials. Warner faced extradition to the U.S. but avoided prosecution after Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office admitted in 2025 that it had misrepresented a specialty arrangement with the U.S., leading to the permanent stay of extradition proceedings.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit has also faced procedural challenges. Warner\u2019s legal team argued that the claims\u2014dating back to 1995\u20132011\u2014were statute-barred and that the defendants had no fiduciary connection to Concacaf. However, the High Court and Appeal Court rejected these arguments, allowing the case to proceed. In a parallel U.S. case, District Court Judge William Kuntz granted Concacaf a default judgment in 2019 for US$79 million after Warner failed to defend against allegations of embezzlement.<\/p>\n
The outcome of the current negotiations could have significant implications for Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s football infrastructure. The Centre of Excellence remains a key asset for local and regional sports development, and a resolution\u2014whether through settlement or judgment\u2014will clarify ownership and potentially unlock further investment in the facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Macoya\u2019s Centre of Excellence at heart of Concacaf\u2019s legal battle with Warner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trinidad-and-tobago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}