Swiss authorities began an extraordinary early-morning operation here Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges.
As leaders of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, gathered for their annual meeting, 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 made at the request of the United States Justice Department, which brought charges in the Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn, according to law enforcement officials.
Prosecutors planned to unseal an indictment soon against more than 10 officials, not all of whom are in Zurich, three law enforcement officials said. The charges include wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
The inquiry is also a major threat to Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president who is generally recognized as the most powerful person in sports, though law enforcement officials said he was not charged. An election, seemingly pre-ordained to give him a fifth term as president, is scheduled for Friday.
The case is the most significant yet for United States Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who took office last month. She previously served as the United States attorney in Brooklyn, where she supervised the FIFA investigation.
With more than $1.5 billion in reserves, FIFA is as much a global financial conglomerate as a sports organization. With countries around the world competing aggressively to win the bid to host the World Cup, Mr. Blatter has commanded the fealty of anyone who wanted a piece of that revenue stream. He and FIFA have weathered corruption controversies in the past, but none involved charges of federal crimes in a United States court.
United States 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. Those cases can hinge on the slightest connection to the United States, like the use of an American bank or Internet service provider.
Switzerland’s treaty with the United States 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.
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Holy crap, finally after all the years of speculation and rumors. And you know it's bad when the bloody Swiss are helping to extradite you to America!!
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I wonder what effect this has on the women's World Cup, and ongoing FIFA operations.
If anything I would suspect it will taint Quatars winning bid more than anything, there was already proof some FIFA members received $1.5M each for their "support" and two others were caught on tape telling English bid members they would give their support if one received $2.5M and the other requested to be given Knighthood
I think we all know how this one plays out. The arrested will get extradited to the US, be granted bail, promptly flee to countries without extradition treaties to the US, Blatter gets re-elected, nothing happens, and we all marvel at how they do it.
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While it is nice to see people deserving of punishment get what is due, is this really the execution of justice or revenge for a slight (i.e. the States not getting the WCF)? The corruption runs to the core with FIFA and to rid the organization it will take a dedicated effort similar to weed control. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a substantial and concentrated effort.
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It's about time something was done OUTSIDE of Fifa.
Remember a few months back? Fifa investigates Fifa, and finds that Fifa is not guilty of any corruption or wrongdoing regarding Qatar LOL. What a joke.
With all the bad stuff going on like corruption, bribes and moving the WC to the Winter, sometimes I think the working conditions of the Qatari slaves is overlooked. I'm shocked and appalled that the Qatari WC is still a go despite the blatant slavery there.
While it is nice to see people deserving of punishment get what is due, is this really the execution of justice or revenge for a slight (i.e. the States not getting the WCF)? The corruption runs to the core with FIFA and to rid the organization it will take a dedicated effort similar to weed control. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a substantial and concentrated effort.
I think it's more an execution of justice and it rots in CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
Jack Warner was forced to resign when FIFA's own investigators were about to lower the boom on him back in 2011. The guy was so incredibly brazen about what he was doing, even FIFA felt compelled to act. That's really saying something.
People following soccer in the US have known since the mid-90s that CONCACAF and FIFA are dirty as Hell. The bidding process for the World Cup finally went too far, was too brazen -- " f-you, what are you going to do about it?" Warner and Blazer were dirty, but there's not really a mainstream media following soccer that was interested in really talking about it. In fact it's probably the English media, mad about losing 2018, who have dug up the most dirt in the last few years.
In CONCACAF there is also corruption in tv rights. A company called Traffic apparently had a guy bribe a FIFA higher up and then got appointed to a FIFA position, and subsequently used that position to help Traffic get the marketing rights for the 2013 Gold Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.
This crap has been institutionalized to such an extent, they are going to just shred through CONCACAF and when those guys outside of the region start to flip, it's going to be like a virus within FIFA.
It should be noted that Blazer is likely the one that the FBI used as an informant in the cases being made today. I've read he wore a wire to a number of meetings. Again, important in terms of how screwed a lot of these guys arrested/indicted today and how much Blatter is a likely target in the future.
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I think it's more an execution of justice and it rots in CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
Jack Warner was forced to resign when FIFA's own investigators were about to lower the boom on him back in 2011. The guy was so incredibly brazen about what he was doing, even FIFA felt compelled to act. That's really saying something.
People following soccer in the US have known since the mid-90s that CONCACAF and FIFA are dirty as Hell. The bidding process for the World Cup finally went too far, was too brazen -- " f-you, what are you going to do about it?" Warner and Blazer were dirty, but there's not really a mainstream media following soccer that was interested in really talking about it. In fact it's probably the English media, mad about losing 2018, who have dug up the most dirt in the last few years.
In CONCACAF there is also corruption in tv rights. A company called Traffic apparently had a guy bribe a FIFA higher up and then got appointed to a FIFA position, and subsequently used that position to help Traffic get the marketing rights for the 2013 Gold Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.
This crap has been institutionalized to such an extent, they are going to just shred through CONCACAF and when those guys outside of the region start to flip, it's going to be like a virus within FIFA.
It should be noted that Blazer is likely the one that the FBI used as an informant in the cases being made today. I've read he wore a wire to a number of meetings. Again, important in terms of how screwed a lot of these guys arrested/indicted today and how much Blatter is a likely target in the future.
The thing about those two World Cup bids is Blatter's age and the upcoming election. He wanted to get the last few bribes in while he could.
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FIFA officials indicted for corruption. UPD: Sepp Blatter will step down as FIFA pres
