Senior FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges

US will reportedly seek extradition of officials on allegations involving wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.Swiss authorities have arrested leading FIFA-linked officials on corruption charges brought by the United States.

Six football officials were arrested in Zurich on Wednesday on allegations of paying and receiving millions of dollars in bribes, Swiss authorities said.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) issued a statement saying the arrests had been made at the request of US authorities.

“The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day,” the FOJ statement said.

“The bribery suspects – representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms – are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries – delegates of FIFA and other functionaries of FIFA sub-organisations – totaling more than $100 million.

“In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America.”

The suspects were not named.

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing law enforcement officials, had earlier reported that the allegations include wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering and that the US indictment involves more than 10 senior officials.

“We’re struck by just how long this went on for and how it touched nearly every part of what FIFA did,” a law enforcement official told the Times. “It just seemed to permeate every element of the federation and was just their way of doing business. It seems like this corruption was institutionalised.”

The US is expected to seek extradition of the officials who have been arrested.

Al Jazeera sports correspondent Andy Richardson, reporting from London, said it was too early to know what the ramifications of the operation in Zurich may be on football’s governing body. 

Source: Al Jazeera