Jack Warner to miss World Cup final because he is running country

July 1 – Jack Warner (pictured), the FIFA vice-president, is set to miss the World Cup final at Soccer City in Johannesburg later this month because he will be running Trinidad and Tobago.

New Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced today that Warner will take over from her as the country’s acting leader when she is travelling, including when she visits Jamaica next week for a Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

She is then due to visit to Miami in the United States for a private family event and will return home to Port-of-Spain on July 12, the day after the World Cup final.

Her spokesman Garvin Nicholas revealed that during this period Warner “will act as Prime Minister”.

Trinidad and Tobago will be represented at the World Cup final by Sports Minister Anil Roberts.

The country’s Attorney General Anand Ramlogan claimed that there was no dissent in the Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet for Warner to be given the role despite the recent controversy over he should be allowed to act as Works and Transport Minister and retain his leading positions in world football, including being the President of CONCACAF.

Ramlogan claimed Warner was “an obvious for this acting Prime Ministership” since he had received the highest number of votes in the general election among all elected MPs and was the chairman of the United National Congress (UNC).

Nicholas said: ”The Prime Minister decided that the best choice at this time was Minister Jack Warner, as a result of that she chose Minister Warner.”