FIFA Officials Held Over Alleged Corruption; World Cups Also Probed

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Many arrests made in USA and Switzerland in joint probe regarding FIFA tournaments in 2010 and 2014... Russian Tournament in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 are now under investigation.

Soccer's governing body FIFA was rocked by dual corruption probes Wednesday that included the arrest of one of its vice presidents and allegations of $150 million in bribes and kickbacks.

Seven high-ranking international soccer officials were arrested in Switzerland as part of a U.S. investigation. Hours later, FIFA's headquarters were raided as part of a parallel case into alleged bribes relating to the awarding of two World Cup tournaments.

Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner — the current and former presidents of the Miami-based CONCACAF continental governing body — were among 14 people charged with racketeering and bribery as part of a "24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer," the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Serving FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo, who runs the Uruguayan soccer federation, was also detained. Other defendants include sports marketing executives.

Authorities also revealed that Charles "Chuck" Blazer, the former U.S. representative on FIFA's executive committee, has pled guilty to 10 counts including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and income tax evasion.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the U.S. indictment alleged "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption that "spans at least two generations of soccer officials who ... abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks."

Meanwhile, the Swiss attorney general's office announced Wednesday that it had launched a criminal investigation into "irregularities" and "unjust enrichment" linked to the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Investigators seized documents at FIFA's Zurich headquarters.

Earlier this month, ESPN quoted a former media consultant for Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid as saying she was in the room as Qatari officials offered $1.5. million each to two members of the Executive Committee for their votes.

In 2010, The Sunday Times of London published video of an Executive Committee member accepting what he thought were bribes from a reporter acting undercover.

Last year, The Sunday Times reported on millions of secret FIFA documents that it alleged proved that Mohammed bin Hammam, a Qatari former member of the Executive Committee, bribed FIFA officials to the tune of $5 million in return for their support for Qatar's bid. FIFA's redacted version of Garcia's report cleared Qatar of all wrongdoing.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/f...probed-n365101