(ATR) FIFA was plunged into an unprecedented crisis after seven football officials were arrested in dawn raids in Zurich, as Swiss prosecutors launched a separate probe into corruption allegations in the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Swiss police officers raided the Baur au Lac hotel around 6 a.m. before arresting the executives who are in Zurich for FIFA meetings this week, including the Congress on Friday when the presidential election takes place.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter was not among those detained by Swiss police pending extradition at the request of U.S. Justice Department.
The most high-profile arrest was FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb, who heads CONCACAF. He is among nine football executives of 14 people in total now indicted on corruption charges including racketeering, bribery, money laundering and fraud.
Four of them have pleaded guilty, according to reports. Among them is Chuck Blazer, the former CONCACAF secretary general who served on the FIFA ExCo before corruption charges led to his downfall. He has been working with the FBI on an investigation into football corruption.
The officials were allegedly involved in a $150 million bribery scandal and are accused of accepting kickbacks linked to commercial deals during the 1990s for football competitions in the United States and Latin America; some are linked to bribes bribes connected with the vote for the 2010 World Cup host country vote (South Africa) and the 2011 FIFA presidential election.
"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," U.S. Attorney General Loretta 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."
The 14 officials under investigation include: Jeffrey Webb, former FIFA vice president and CONCACAF chief Jack Warner, Costa Rica’s football leader Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo, president of CONMEBOL, and Brazil’s FIFA ExCo member Jose Maria Marin.
The Swiss investigation follows information passed to prosecutors in November by FIFA following Michael Garcia’s report into alleged corruption in the bidding contest for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar.
A statement from the Swiss prosecutors' office said officials had seized "electronic data and documents" from FIFA's headquarters in Zurich on Wednesday, with police confirming they will question 10 of the FIFA ExCo members who were among the 22 who voted for Russia and Qatar in December 2010.
At a hastily-convened press conference in Zurich, FIFA's director of communications Walter de Gregorio described it as a "difficult day" for the scandal-plagued governing body of world football.
He confirmed Friday's FIFA presidential election was still scheduled to go ahead, with the incumbent Blatter and his Jordanian challenger Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein on the ballot sheet.
"This is not good in terms of image or reputation. But in terms of cleaning up everything, what we did in the last four years [of reforms process], this is good," he told reporters.
Written by Mark Bisson
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