'World Cup of fraud' charges accuse senior FIFA officials

Sport360 staff 03:13 28/05/2015
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  • Accusing: Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

    FIFA was plunged into the biggest meltdown in its scandal-hit history on Wednesday after a wave of arrests of football officials in Zurich on corruption charges, branded “the World Cup of fraud” by Richard Weber, head of the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Division.

    Seven officials including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb from the Cayman Islands were arrested by Swiss authorities on behalf of the US Department of Justice which has indicted 18 people alleging bribery totalling more than $150 million.

    “This is the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing FIFA a red card,” said Weber.

    In a separate development, the Swiss attorney general also opened criminal proceedings over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and seized documents and electronic data from FIFA’s headquarters and will question 10 current FIFA executive committee members who voted on those two tournaments.

    The twin proceedings have cast FIFA into a state of crisis ahead of Friday’s presidential election but the world governing body has said the vote, where incumbent Sepp Blatter is facing Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, will go ahead.

    A day of drama began at dawn in Zurich when Swiss law enforcement officers swooped on the fivestar Baur au Lac hotel and arrested the seven officials for alleged racketeering, conspiracy and corruption ahead of planned extradition to the USA.

    The US Department of Justice’s office of public affairs confirmed 50-year-old Webb was among those arrested at the request of the United States along with another FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo from Uruguay.

    In total nine FIFA officials or former officials and five corporate executives have been indicted, including disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner from Trinidad.

    A further four have already pleaded guilty to charges including Chuck Blazer, the ‘supergrass’ believed to have provided much of the evidence for the FBI investigation, and Warner’s two sons Daryll and Daryan Warner.

    US attorney general Loretta Lynch said the indictment alleged “corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States” and that it “spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks”.

    Despite the Swiss investigation into World Cup bidding, FIFA communications director Walter De Gregorio told a news conference in Zurich it would not affect the hosting of the World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

    He said: “The election will take place as planned. The World Cups 2018 and 2022 will be played in Russia and Qatar.”

    He added: “It’s not nice being here in front of the media trying to explain something that is not nice but at the same time for us, for FIFA, this is good, it confirms that we are on the right track.”

    The arrests began at 6am and the officials were led un-handcuffed from their hotel rooms to unmarked police cars. The wives of at least two of those arrested, including Webb, were seen in tears in the lobby of the Baur au Lac hotel.

    Six of the seven officials arrested are opposing their extradition to the United States, the Swiss justice ministry later said.

    FBI director James B Comey said: “The defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world.

    “Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA. When leaders in an organisation resort to cheating the very members that they were supposed to represent, they must be held accountable.

    “Whether you call it soccer or football, the fans, players and sponsors around the world who love this game should not have to worry about officials corrupting their sport. This case isn’t about soccer, it is about fairness and following the law.”

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