England's World Cup bid bogeyman, Jack Warner, will learn this week whether bonuses claimed by former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and 15 other Trinidad and Tobago players must be paid by the Caribbean islands’ football federation.
A High Court judge in Port of Spain is expected to announce whether the federation, for whom FIFA vice-president Warner is a special advisor, can ignore a ruling by an independent arbitration panel that the players were entitled to the payments following the 2006 World Cup.
The federation argue that, because the verdict of the London-based Sports Dispute Resolution Panel in May 2008 was made public, it is invalid.
But Hislop said: ‘We’re quietly confident. When right is on your side, you must believe the decision will go your way. Let’s hope it does, for the good of football everywhere.’
Even if the High Court uphold the panel’s verdict, Hislop fears Warner and the Trinidad and Tobago federation will continue delaying tactics and hope to wriggle out of the verbal contract Warner struck to pay the players half the commercial revenues from their first everWorld Cup finals appearance.