Wednesday 27 May 2015

SIX FIFA OFFICIALS ARRESTED OVER $100M CORRUPTION SCANDAL. #FIFA


Six Fifa officials, including vice-president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested on suspicion of corruption in dawn raids at a Zurich hotel ahead of Friday's presidential election.

The members of the world governing body were held by Swiss police at the US Department of Justice's request. They are suspected of having received bribes totalling millions of US dollars, the Swiss authorities said. 

The FBI and US Department of Justice will hold a news conference later.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term in charge of the organisation when he stands for re-election on Friday, is not one of those arrested.

But vice-president Webb - who is also head of the North America, Central America and Caribbean football federation - is among those held, according to BBC Radio 5 live's sports news correspondent Richard Conway, who is in Zurich.

Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay and the Brazilian deputy FA chief Jose Maria Marin were also taken away from the five-star Baur au Lac hotel.

Li was due to join Fifa's executive committee on Friday, while Marin, who was led out of a side exit, is a member of Fifa's club committee. The officers were carrying his black suitcase and some of his possessions in plastic bags.

It comes as Swiss legal authorities announced they had opened separate criminal proceedings into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar were allocated.

A high-level meeting of Fifa officials is now under way at their headquarters and a news conference is expected to follow at 10:00 BST.

Swiss authorities began their operation to arrest the Fifa officials at the exclusive Baur au Lac hotel, pending their extradition to the US, early on Wednesday.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said those held were being investigated "on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day", totalling "more than $100m" [£65m at current rates].

The alleged crimes were agreed to and prepared in the US via US bank accounts, it added.

According to reports in the US, former high-ranking Fifa official Chuck Blazer became an FBI co-operating witness and was given a wiretap used in a series of meetings in London in the summer of 2012.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke briefly visited the hotel on Wednesday morning but declined to comment.

A Fifa spokesperson said: "We have seen the media reports and and are seeking clarity in this matter. We will make no further comment at this stage."

Blatter is to go head-to-head against Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan in Friday's presidential election.

Following a meeting with his advisors on the impact of the arrests on the upcoming vote, Prince Ali said: "Today is a sad day for football."


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