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Given the HUGE sums in football, it’s not surprising that corruption is present.
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7 FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges; face extradition to US
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Football: Swiss authorities arrest a seventh top Fifa official as corruption scandal widens http://str.sg/UAf
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The reports offer a fresh blow to the credibility of FIFA, which has suffered repeated accusations of wrongdoing over the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Qatar and Russia respectively.
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Damian Collins, the British MP who founded the reform group New FIFA Now, said the news was hugely significant for FIFA and 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 by telephone.
“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.”
– Reuters/al
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/arrested-fifa-officials/1874824.html
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They are suspected of accepting “bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day.”
6 #football officials detained as US corruption probe rocks #FIFA http://goo.gl/3oSDjq
ZURICH – Swiss police on Wednesday raided a Zurich hotel to detain six top football officials as part of a US investigation into tens of millions of dollars of bribes, Swiss authorities and media reports said.
All six could be extradited to the United States and the shock arrests come only two days before FIFA president Sepp Blatter seeks reelection as head of football’s world governing body in a campaign overshadowed by scandal.
Jeffrey Webb, a vice president of FIFA, was among those detained, according to the New York Times.
Swiss police in plain clothes took the room keys from the reception at the Baur au Lac hotel and went to the rooms of the six, the New York Times said.
The operation was carried out peacefully, it added.
The newspaper added that Eduardo Li, an official from Costa Rica, was also seen being led away.
The Swiss justice ministry said only that six football officials had been detained following a request from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
– See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/sports/6-football-officials-detained-us-corruption-probe-rocks-fifa#xtor=CS2-4
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FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges; face extradition to US
JUST IN: Several top-ranking #FIFA officials arrested on #corruption charges http://tdy.sg/1GCwHdp
…ZURICH — Swiss authorities began an extraordinary early-morning operation here today (May 27) to arrest several top football officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges.
As leaders of FIFA, football’s global governing body, gathered for their annual meeting, more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel, an elegant five-star property with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich.
The arrests were carried out peacefully, with at least two men being ushered out of the hotel without handcuffs. One agent carried what appeared to be evidence bags containing medication and money. One FIFA official, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, was led by the authorities from his room to a side-door exit of the hotel. He was allowed to bring his luggage, which was adorned with FIFA logos.
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