27th May, 2015
*The FIFA executives will be extradited to the US for corruption charges
In an early morning raid, Swiss authorities today arrested no fewer than 12 top FIFA officials. They are to be extradited to the United States to face corruption charges, money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud
They were arrested at the baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich, where members of FIFA governing body are gathered for their annual meeting. An election, expected to be a coronation for Mr. Sepp Blatter, its president seeking an unprecedented fifth term,is scheduled for Friday.
The charges, according to the New York Times, allege widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals, according to three law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the case.
The indictment names 14 people on charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
In addition to senior soccer officials, the indictment is also expected to name sports-marketing executives from the United States and South America who are accused of paying more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for media deals associated with major soccer tournaments, according to one government official briefed on the matter.
The official said the soccer officials charged are Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz.
Charges were also expected against the sports-marketing executives Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis. Authorities also charged José Margulies as an intermediary who facilitated illegal payments.
The arrests were a startling blow to FIFA, a multibillion-dollar organization that governs the world’s most popular sport but has been plagued by accusations of bribery for decades.
The inquiry is also a major threat to Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president who is generally recognized as the most powerful person in sports, though he was not charged. Law enforcement officials said that the investigation is ongoing, and that Mr. Blatter was not yet considered cleared of any wrongdoing. An election, seemingly pre-ordained to give him a fifth term as president, is scheduled for Friday.
“We’re struck by just how long this went on for and how it touched nearly every part of what FIFA did,” said a law enforcement official. “It just seemed to permeate every element of the federation and was just their way of doing business. It seems like this corruption was institutionalized.”
*New York Times