ZURICH, May 27 2015 – 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.
Longtime President Sepp Blatter is not among those indicted, but CONCACAF leaders such as Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb are reportedly among those being indicted by new United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Webb and Warner have been charged with corruption.
Meantime, four individuals and two corporate defendants, including former CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer and Warner’s sons Daryan and Daryll have pleaded guilty.
The alleged scheme “fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created uneven playing field”.
“Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa”.
Majority of the scheme involved corruption over media and marketing rights to matches and tournaments.
Rival presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein’s supporters said that they turned in a bribery offer that could deliver 47 votes.
The Jordanian Prince did not turn them into FIFA, but instead brought the illicit activity in front of a nation where charges could be made.
