Six FIFA officials, including the association’s vice-president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested this morning at the Baur Au Luc hotel in Zurich. This is on the back of an investigation into bribery from, the FBI and the Federal Office of Justice.
An operation took place at 8am this morning, in which six men were arrested. They are accused of bribes worth over £100m dating back to the 1990’s. They now face extradition to the U.S.A.
The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) released the following statement this morning, regarding the questioning of the six men arrested;
“The Zurich Police will question the detainees today on behalf of the FOJ regarding the US request for their arrest.
“A simplified procedure will apply for wanted persons who agree to their immediate extradition.
“The FOJ can immediately approve their extradition to the US and order its execution.
“However, if a wanted person opposed their extradition, the FOJ will invite the US to submit of formal extradition request within the deadline of 40 days specified in the bilateral extradition treaty.”
The other men thought to be involved are Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Eugemo Figueredo of Uruguay and Jose Maria Marin of the Brazilian F.A.
FIFA have declined to comment until they know the full details of those involved in the raid.
This comes as a huge blow to Football’s governing body who for a long time know have been facing questions regarding their credibility after Qatar and Russia were handed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. These allegations were largely based on the findings of the Garcia Report, an investigation which, ironically, Jeffrey Webb along with several FIFA officials called to be published back in September.
They were meeting for congress in Zurich ahead of the election for presidency on Friday between Sepp Blatter, who is understood to not be involved in the accusations, and Ali Bin Al Hussein of Egypt.
This story is likely to unfold as the day goes on.
This won’t be the last we hear of this story today. Although it has been made very clear that Sepp Blatter is not involved in this investigation, I find it very hard to believe that he wouldn’t have known his own vice-president took part in bribes regarding host nations for major tournaments.
Maybe this along with the election of Mr Bin Al Hussein will lead to a more transparent governing body. The world of football may again begin to trust those that are in charge of their sport.