T&T players to get 2006 World Cup cash.
By Leon Mann (BBCSports).
Hislop says the verdict puts Jack Warner in the spotlight
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation will be ordered to pay 13 members of its 2006 World Cup squad an interim payment of more than $1m.
The players took legal action against the federation after claiming it reneged on a promise to pay them 50% of its proceeds from the tournament.
Trinidad's High Court will rule on Friday that an interim payment must be made to the players.
It will also order the TTFF to submit its accounts for scrutiny.
TTFF president Oliver Camps has already indicated that his organisation will honour the judgment and pay the players the total of $1.14m (£700,720).
"In an effort to bring closure to this matter, I am of the view the TTFF will honour this, in spite of the fact that we will have to borrow the money to do so," he said.
There is no smoke without fire - and given how poorly the TTFF have handled their finances everybody has to sit up and take notice of the smoke, added Hislop".
The players claim Jack Warner, in his role as special adviser to the TTFF, personally promised them 50% of the World Cup proceeds.
Warner, the FIFA vice-president and president of Concacaf, remains an adviser to the TTFF, and is also minister of works and transport for the Trinidad government.
Former West Ham and Newcastle goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was one of the players who brought the case against the TTFF.
He welcomed the decision of the Trinidad High Court and said it calls into question Warner's position as a senior administrator in world football.
"A lot has been speculated about Jack Warner and what he does - rightly or wrongly," Hislop told BBC Sport.
"I'm a firm believer that you are innocent until proven guilty. But at the same time there is no smoke without fire.
"Given how poorly the TTFF have handled their finances over the last decade, everybody has to now sit up and take notice of the smoke."
Brent Sancho, the former Millwall and Gillingham defender, was another player who took on the TTFF.
He has not played for his country since helping to bring the case against the TTFF and has described the process as "an absolute nightmare".
Warner is now a government minister in Trinidad
"If you look at the history of the Federation's actions, they've been using delaying tactics at every opportunity in this case." he told BBC Sport.
"I was blacklisted from the national side when I stood up to the federation and asked for the money they had promised. Without international football I had no shop window to further my career.
"In truth it effectively ended my career. I'm now worried about what happens with football in the country. I want progress but with the serious levels of mismanagement that have taken place at the Federation, where do we go from here?"
London's Sport Dispute Resolution Panel ruled in favour of the players in May 2008, but the TTFF refused to pay, claiming the players had broken a gag order on the ruling.
As a result the case went to Trinidad's High Court in the capital, Port of Spain.
Hislop also welcomed the decision to order the TTFF to submit its books for scrutiny.
"It's important, because of Jack Warner's appointment as minister of transport and work, his political ties and the fact his party won an election on a platform of accountability and transparency," he said.
"We've said all along 'now is your opportunity to prove it'. It wasn't just about the 2006 campaign - we feel that the TTFF have not been transparent or accountable for far too long."
The TTFF was not available for comment when contacted by the BBC.
