FIFA officials arrested on graft charges

New YORK — United States law enforcement officials declared in forceful terms yesterday that their broad investigation of FIFA had only begun and pledged to rid the international football organisation of systemic corruption.

The Justice Department, FBI and IRS described football’s governing body in terms normally reserved for Mafia families and drug cartels, saying that top officials treated FIFA business decisions as chits to be traded for personal wealth.

The Swiss authorities, working in conjunction with US officials, conducted an extraordinary early-morning operation in Zurich yesterday to arrest several top football officials and extradite them to the US on federal corruption charges. The charges, backed by an FBI investigation, allege widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals.

The Department of Justice indictment names 14 people on charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. In addition to senior football officials, the indictment also named sports-marketing executives who are accused of paying more than US$150 million (S$202.9 million) in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for media deals associated with major football tournaments.

The football officials charged are Eduardo Li, Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, Jose Maria Marin and Nicolas Leoz.

One football official took in more than US$10 million in bribes, Attorney-General Loretta E Lynch said.

The promise that the investigation would continue raised the spectre of more arrests, but officials would not comment on whether they were investigating FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The 79-year-old is expected to be re-elected into office tomorrow.

“This is the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing FIFA a red card,” said IRS criminal investigation unit’s Richard Weber.

The Justice Department built its case with help from former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer, who secretly pleaded guilty in federal court in 2013. Blazer forfeited US$1.9 million when he entered his guilty plea and agreed to make a second payment at sentencing. The New York Daily News reported that Blazer had cooperated with investigators by wearing a wire to meetings as an FBI mole.

US law gives the Justice Department wide authority to bring cases against foreign nationals living abroad, an authority that prosecutors have used repeatedly in international terrorism cases. Switzerland’s treaty with the US is unusual in that it gives Swiss authorities the power to refuse extradition for tax crimes, but on matters of general criminal law, the Swiss have agreed to turn people over for prosecution in American courts.

The Swiss Justice Ministry said that six of the seven FIFA officials arrested in Zurich plan to fight being extradited to the US. AGENCIES