Top FIFA officials arrested in Zurich as part of corruption investigation
Date
December 3, 2015 - 4:37PM
More than a dozen people were arrested on Thursday in Switzerland in connection with corruption allegations at football's international governing body, the New York Times is reporting.
Police were reportedly targeting current and former football officials, with those charged expected to be mainly south and central American football executives.
It has been reported that two of those arrested are Alfredo Hawit, president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), and Juan Angel Napout, president of CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation.
Hawit's predecessor, Jeffrey Webb, was arrested on corruption charges in Zurich in May, while former long-serving CONCACAF president Jack Warner handed himself into police in Trinidad after being indicted and charged with "wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering". Warner is on bail pending extradition to the US.
Officials said Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president, was not among those arrested on Thursday.
"Police steps are being taken on Thursday on behalf of the (Swiss) Federal Office of Justice (FOJ)," a spokesman for police in FIFA's home canton of Zurich told Reuters. He referred all other questions to the FOJ, which was not immediately available for comment.
FIFA said it was aware of the arrests but did not give details.
"FIFA became aware of the actions taken today by the U.S. Department of Justice. FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the U.S. investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General," a statement said.
Authorities have said for months to expect a second wave of corruption charges in soccer following U.S. charges in May against 14 officials and sports marketing executives with paying and taking bribes.
Swiss and U.S. authorities are conducting parallel investigations of corruption in soccer, focusing on whether certain business contracts or the World Cup hosting rights for 2018 and 2022 were won with the help of bribery.
The leaderships of several South American national soccer organizations have been upended. Last week, Marco Polo Del Nero, the head of the Brazilian Football Confederation, resigned his post on FIFA's executive committee amid criticism of his leadership.
Also last month, the president of the Colombian Football Federation, Luis Bedoya, resigned unexpectedly as a government source said Bedoya had flown to New York. The president of Chile's ANFP national football association, Sergio Jadue, resigned his post and went to the United States to talk to the FBI, Chilean media reported.
The U.S. and Swiss investigations have breathed new life into efforts to overhaul FIFA. A reform committee is expected to present recommendations on Thursday to FIFA's executive committee at a meeting in Zurich, where FIFA has its headquarters.
On Tuesday, leading FIFA sponsors Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, Adidas, The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald's Corp and Visa Inc published an open letter demanding independent oversight of the reform process.
Since May there has also been a shakeup of FIFA's leadership. President Sepp Blatter and Secretary General Jerome Valcke were both suspended by an internal ethics watchdog, although neither has been charged with a crime and both say they have done nothing wrong.
Blatter said in June he would resign more than three years early, and FIFA's congress is scheduled to elect his successor in February.
Wednesday marked five years since the Dec. 2, 2010, vote in which the FIFA executive committee awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals hosting rights to Russia and Qatar. The choice of Qatar, a small desert state where summer daytime temperatures rarely fall below 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), was especially contentious and went against the advice of FIFA's own technical committee.
Fairfax Media, Reuters
