World soccer rocked by US, Swiss arrests of officials for graft
The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil on May 27 as seven senior soccer officials were arrested on US corruption charges and faced extradition from Switzerland, whose authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.
The arrests in a dawn raid at a five-star Zurich hotel mark an unprecedented blow against soccer's governing body FIFA, which for years has been dogged by allegations of corruption but always escaped major criminal cases.
US prosecutors said they aimed to make more arrests but would not be drawn on whether FIFA President Sepp Blatter, for long the most powerful man in the sport, was a target of the probe. Blatter, 79, is standing for re-election to a fifth term at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 29, and FIFA said the vote would go ahead as planned.
The European soccer body UEFA called for the election to be postponed, saying "the European associations will have to consider carefully if they should even attend this Congress."
In a scathing indictment of corruption in soccer, US authorities said nine officials and five sports media and promotions executives were charged in cases involving more than US$150 million in bribes over a period of 24 years. They said their investigation exposed complex money laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed incomes and tens of millions in offshore accounts held by FIFA officials.
Swiss police arrested the seven, all from the Latin American and Caribbean region, and detained them pending extradition proceedings to the United States, which could take years if they contest the process. The Federal Office of Justice in Switzerland said that six would contest extradition, but that one person agreed to be extradited.
Blatter, who has denied and survived allegations of his involvement in corruption, said in a statement: "Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game."
The statement also said that FIFA welcomed the actions and the investigations "and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken to root out any wrongdoing in football."