Wednesday, May 27, 2015

FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Sepp Blatter Isn’t Among Them

The Federal Bureau of Investigation,  a US law enforcement organisation, also raided the headquarters of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) in Miami.
"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted," said US attorney general Loretta Lynch.
"It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks."
Indictment details:
  • Bribes linked to commercial deals dating back to the 1990s for football tournaments in the US and Latin America
  • Nine current or former Fifa officials, including Webb and former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, charged with corruption
  • Four individual and two corporate defendants, including former Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer and Warner's sons Daryan and Daryll, plead guilty
  • Alleged scheme "fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created uneven playing field"
  • "Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa"
  • Majority of scheme involved corruption over media and marketing rights to matches and tournaments
The seven Fifa officials arrested were Webb, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel and Jose Maria Marin. They now face extradition to the United States.

The Fifa presidential election will take place on Friday as planned despite the arrest of seven Fifa officials on charges they received more than $150m (£100m) in bribes.
New York Times image of the Fifa arrests
An image from the New York Times, which first broke the story, of the raids happening
Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb in a library picture
Jeffrey Webb, a vice-president of Fifa, is one of those arrested

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