Seven of the most powerful figures in global soccer faced extradition to the United States on corruption charges after their arrest on Wednesday in Switzerland, where authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.
The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil after US and Swiss authorities announced separate inquiries into the activities of the game's powerful governing body, FIFA.
US authorities said nine soccer officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes. In pursuit of the US case, Swiss police arrested seven FIFA officials who are now awaiting extradition to the United States.
US officials gave details of a case in which they said they exposed complex money laundering schemes, found millions of dollars in untaxed incomes and tens of millions in offshore accounts held by FIFA officials.
At a New York press conference, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said authorities were seeking the arrest of other people in connection with the case.
One of those indicted, former FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner of Trinidad, solicited $10 million in bribes from the South African government to host the 2010 World Cup, the Justice Department said. Warner issued a statement saying he is innocent of any charges.
Those arrested did not include Sepp Blatter, the Swiss head of FIFA, but included several just below him in the hierarchy of sport's wealthiest body. Lynch said the US was not charging Blatter at this time.
Of the 14 indicted by the US Department of Justice, seven FIFA officials, including Vice-President Jeffrey Webb, were being held in Zurich. Four people and two corporate defendants had already pleaded guilty to various charges, the department said.
The Miami, Florida, headquarters of CONCACAF - the soccer federation that governs North America, Central America and the Caribbean - were being searched on Wednesday, the DoJ said.
"As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world," said FBI Director James Comey. "Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA." The FIFA officials appeared to have walked into a trap set by US and Swiss authorities. The arrests were made at dawn at a plush Zurich hotel, the Baur au Lac, where FIFA officials are staying before a vote this week that is expected to anoint Blatter for a fifth term in office. Suites at the hotel cost up to $4,000 a night.
'Difficult moment'
FIFA called the arrests a "difficult moment" but said Blatter would seek another term as FIFA head as planned and the upcoming World Cups would go ahead as intended.
Separate from the US investigation, Swiss prosecutors said they had opened their own criminal proceedings against unidentified people on suspicion of mismanagement and money laundering related to the awarding of rights to host the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 event in Qatar.
Data and documents were seized from computers at FIFA's Zurich headquarters, the Swiss prosecutors said.
Officials said that following the arrests, accounts at several banks in Switzerland had been blocked.
The US Department of Justice named those arrested in its case as: Webb, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, another FIFA Vice-President, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel and José Maria Marin.
An authoritative source said their extradition could take years if it was contested.
The DoJ said the defendants included US and South American sports marketing executives alleged to have paid and agreed to pay "well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments".
"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," Lynch said in a statement.
"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," she said.
The guilty pleas were those of Charles Blazer, a former US representative on FIFA's executive committee, and José Hawilla, owner of the Traffic Group, a sports marketing firm, and two of his companies.
Billions of dollars
The international governing body of football collects billions of dollars in revenue, mostly from sponsorship and television rights for World Cups.
It has been dogged by reports of corruption which it says it investigates itself, but until now it has escaped major criminal cases in any country.
In particular, the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, a tiny desert country with no domestic tradition of soccer, was heavily criticised by soccer officials in Western countries. FIFA was forced to acknowledge that it is too hot to play soccer there in the summer when the tournament is traditionally held, forcing schedules around the globe to be rewritten to move the event.
Qatar's stock market fell sharply as news of the Swiss investigation emerged. A Russian official said his country would still host the 2018 World Cup.
Three years ago FIFA hired a former US prosecutor to examine allegations of bribery over the awarding of the World Cups to Qatar and Russia. However, last year it refused to publish his report, releasing only a summary in which it said there were no major irregularities. The investigator quit, saying his report had been mischaracterised.
Most of the arrested officials are in Switzerland for the FIFA Congress, where Blatter faces a challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein in the election on Friday to lead the organisation. Other potential challengers to Blatter have all dropped out the race.
Prince Ali, who has promised to clean up FIFA if elected to the top job, said it was "a sad day for football" and called for leadership in the world body that could restore the confidence of hundreds of millions of fans around the world.
English Football Association Chairman Greg Dyke said Wednesday's developments were "very serious for FIFA and its current leadership". England had nominated Prince Ali as a candidate to succeed Blatter and would be backing him if the FIFA leadership vote went ahead.
Broad powers
US law gives its courts broad powers to investigate crimes committed by foreigners on foreign soil if money passes through US banks or other activity takes place there.
Damian Collins, a British member of parliament who founded the reform group New FIFA Now, said the arrests could have a massive impact on the governing body.
"The chickens are finally coming home to roost and this sounds like a hugely significant development for FIFA," he told Reuters.
"It proves that Sepp Blatter's promises over the last few years to look into corruption at FIFA have not materialised and because he has totally failed to do this, it has been left to an outside law enforcement agency to do the job and take action." The arrests could also have implications for sponsorship.
German sportswear company Adidas, long associated with FIFA, said the soccer body should do more to establish transparent compliance standards.
Football world rocked as 7 top Fifa officials held for graft
WASHINGTON: In a stunning move that shook the soccer world to its boots, plainclothes Swiss law-enforcement authorities swooped down on a five-star hotel in Zurich at the crack of dawn on Wednesday and — at the instance of US authorities — took into custody seven leading members of the sport's governing body Fifa who had gathered there ahead of a presidential vote this week.
The move followed the announcement in New York that the US justice department was charging 14 leader soccer officials and promoters from across the world with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in what it said was "a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer".
Swiss prosecutors, meanwhile, said they had opened their own criminal proceedings against the officials on suspicion of mismanagement and money laundering related to awarding of rights to host the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Data and documents were seized from computers at Fifa's Zurich headquarters.
Four individual defendants and two corporate defendants have already pleaded guilty, the justice department said on Wednesday, amid reports that those arrested in Switzerland would be extradited to the US for prosecution and trial. The American indictment was based on the money trail passing through the US banking system.
Defendants charged in the indictment include some of the highest-ranking Fifa officials such as current Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb and his predecessor Jack Warner, the current and former presidents of CONCACAF, the continental confederation under Fifa headquartered in the US. They also include several US and South American sports marketing executives who are alleged to have systematically paid and agreed to pay well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments.
Fifa's four-term President Sepp Blatter, 79, the Swiss soccer supremo who was seeking a fifth term at Zurich, is not among those arrested.
Blatter has presided over the cash-rich body that has billions of dollars in revenue and some $1.5 billion in reserves, with an iron hand, frequently weathering reports of corruption. A small cabal runs the organization with little transparency or oversight, and reports of bribes and kickbacks, including to stage mega events such as the world cup soccer tournament in Qatar in 2018, are frequent.
"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," US attorney general Loretta Lynch, who was part of an investigation into the racket, said, adding that, "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."
A combo of six file photos of the football officials involved in the US Justice Department of investigation into corruption at FIFA. (AP Photo)
Lynch said the corruption has "profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that should benefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organizations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable".
The US crackdown followed investigations into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 soccer World Cups that were eventually won for hosting by Russia and Qatar respectively. Rumors swirled around Fifa officials who had demanded bribes for their votes, with the asking rate between $1.5 million to $2.5 million per vote.
"As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world. Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa," said FBI director James Comey, whose bureau investigated the scandal.
Said Richard Weber, chief of the IRS criminal investigation wing that also investigated the charges, "Corruption, tax evasion and money laundering are certainly not the cornerstones of any successful business. Whether you call it soccer or football, the fans, players and sponsors around the world who love this game should not have to worry about officials corrupting their sport. This case isn't about soccer, it is about fairness and following the law".
On its part, Fifa has promised to cooperate with US officials handling the case.
Nine FIFA officials, five others indicted on corruption charges
Nine high-ranking soccer officials, including two current vice-presidents of world governing-body FIFA, and five sports marketing executives have been indicted on federal corruption charges, U.S. law enforcement officials said on Wednesday.
The 47-count indictment unsealed in a federal court in New York charged the defendants with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies as part of a scheme that spanned more than two decades, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
Seven FIFA officials, including current FIFA vice president and executive committee member Jeffrey Webb, were arrested by authorities in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday and detained pending extradition to the United States, the department said.
Four individuals and two corporate defendants had already pleaded guilty to various charges, the department said.
