14 Fifa officials indicted over £65m Bribery case - 6 Arrested by FBI - Includes Vice President

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• Six football officials were arrested on Wednesday by Swiss police
  FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb among those detained in 6am raid
  Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner is among 14 indicted
  Nine of those on FBI indictment list are FIFA officials
  Case involves bribes 'totaling more than $100m (£65m)' linked to deals in North and Latin American dating back to the 1990s
  President of world governing body Blatter not among men arrested
  Blatter's presidential opponent Prince Ali: 'This is a sad day for football'
  FIFA will hold a news conference at 10am BST

Six football officials including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb were arrested and detained after a raid at a luxury hotel by Swiss police on Wednesday pending extradition at the request of US authorities.

The case involves bribes 'totaling more than $100m (£65m)' linked to commercial deals dating back to the 1990s for football tournaments in the United States and Latin America.

The officials are in Switzerland for the FIFA congress and presidential election, where Sepp Blatter is widely expected to win a fifth term at the helm of the governing body of world football.

Blatter was not among the men arrested, FIFA spokesman Walter de Gregorio said, but vice president Webb was.

Among the other FIFA members arrested in the dawn raid were Eugenio Figueredo, the Uruguayan football executive, who was due to stand down from the world governing body after Friday election.


The third known arrest was Eduardo Li, President of the Costa Rica Football Association. Li was led from the hotel via a side entrance with a sheet covering his head.

He is about to join the FIFA Executive Committee.

The indictment, seen by the New York Times, listed 14 names. The football officials charged are Webb, Figueredo, Li, Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, Jose Maria Marin and Nicolas Leoz.

Charges are also expected against the sports marketing executives Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis.

The authorities have also charged Jose Marguiles as an 'intermediary who facilitated illegal payments.'

All the charges are understood to be based on deals done in the United States dating back to the 1990s and involve charges of racketeering and money laundering.

Much of the evidence has come from Chuck Blazer, a former member of the FIFA executive committee who turned 'supergrass' for the FBI.

Blazer wore a wire tap to the London Olympic Games on behalf of the FBI in order to record meetings with colleagues.

The American publications New York Times, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal were tipped off about the raid by the FBI.

The FBI raiding party arrived at the hotel at 6am and the last arrest was of Li, who was led from the building with a sheet over his head at 6.45am.

Blatter is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Confederation of African Football at 10:30am local time in a different Zurich hotel. Precautions are being made to ensure Blatter is not mobbed by the media.

FIFA will hold a press conference about the arrests at 10am BST at their headquarters on the outskirts of Zurich.

The FBI will hold a press conference at 3.30pm British time.

FIFA Presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, reacting to the news, said: 'Today is a sad day for football. Clearly this is a developing story, the details of which are still emerging. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.'

Sepp wins easily.

Mind you, we have to do it all over again!

Poor old Sepp just has the most terrible luck finding good help: https://twitter.com/McKenzieCNN/status/604168458050248705

Think this will only increase scrutiny on FIFA, doubt Blatter serves his full-term. Had Ali got in, FIFA itself could avoid the pressure, it falling mainly on Blatter and the others, now Blatter is in charge again, the pressure will only increase and there's a chance of a European boycott.

Uefa should 100% boycott the forthcoming world cups, without the Europeans you're left with Brazil, Argentina and not a lot else. I find it ridiculous that the European nations don't have more of a say on these things anyway, pompous or not does a vote from Sierra Leone really mean the same as a vote from Holland, England, Germany or Spain?

Greg Dyke frantically searching the Yellow Pages for a hitman as we speak

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Uefa should 100% boycott the forthcoming world cups, without the Europeans you're left with Brazil, Argentina and not a lot else. I find it ridiculous that the European nations don't have more of a say on these things anyway, pompous or not does a vote from Sierra Leone really mean the same as a vote from Holland, England, Germany or Spain?

Yes, Sierra Leone should have the very same rights as Germany or England.  This is not a Power Trip or Power Grab issue (or at least it shouldn't be if everyone is being totally honest about the reasons for the crisis).  
This is a corruption issue.  And let's not forget that it is a European based organisation and a European native that is now being questioned about his integrity through years of allegedly corrupt dealings emanating from FIFA Headquarters to help influence the location of certain WCs.
So what is Europe going to do about it?  Yes - every nation that voted 'No' to Blatter should now boycott the next WC.  Sponsors will do the rest as they run scared from alienating some massive markets.

But Sierra Leone - one member Nation one vote. Perfect.

DAVE667 wrote:Greg Dyke frantically searching the Yellow Pages for a hitman as we speak

Blatter has already had an hour's head start.

It is a corruption issue when easily corrupted nations have the same influence as the nations who sell the game and are those most affected by any decision FIFA takes. If we look at it in terms of the world cup, it is 50% European, there have been 3 non-European winners compared to 5 European winners. A sport that relies so heavily on a select few should be giving more power to the minority, Sierra Leone are not equal to Germany on these things and the voting should highlight that.

It's not about winning or population.  

God...this is all back to power and influence and therefore corruption and power decides where the minnows go and decides where WCs are held.  It might be considered more legally binding in legally proud Europe but it's still dictatorship from a controlling top.

That is not democracy - and that is what the criticism of Blatter and his people is all about - abusing power to get the results they want over the democratic wishes of the rest.

Sorry but I do not believe that the minnows have an equal say to those whom the sport is built around.

Rich getting richer by those standards.

I would, however, have no problems seeing members who have been heavily in bribing and corruption issues being banned from a couple of World Cup voting rounds, and if FIFA had even a smidgen of transparency then this leadership vote would have been delayed and I'd have banned those nations from that vote too.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Sorry but I do not believe that the minnows have an equal say to those whom the sport is built around.

Then all this has been really about for you is England losing out on a hosting? - and annoyance at not having the power in their hands rather than in those of old Blatter?

So the whole battle for some English or Germans or Spanish is a ruse.  It's merely disguised envy that Blatter buys his votes better to keep the European heavies off the top step so that they too can decide amongst themselves where each rugby WC is held?

When it's a result of corruption then yes I do I have a problem with it and that is the fundamental issue here.

Football across the globe is not equal, there's a very good reason why a single player in England can earn more in a week than I imagine a whole league would earn in a year in some countries.

Whilst football across the globe is not equal, democracy is.

One nation should have one vote, otherwise you become a closed shop, similar to that in cricket.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:When it's a result of corruption then yes I do I have a problem with it and that is the fundamental issue here.

Football across the globe is not equal, there's a very good reason why a single player in England can earn more in a week than I imagine a whole league would earn in a year in some countries.

There's a very good reason why many of those players don't actually come from England itself too though, isn't there?

Having big leagues, and big name players, and big sponsors does not give any nation any Rights to control a World Sport - to assume command, as it were.  It might suggest the power to do so but it doesn't naturally give any Rights to do so.  If this has only been a disguised Power struggle between Zones of Self Important Interest then it's all been a major con in the first place.... on all of us.

SecretFly wrote:If this has only been a disguised Power struggle between Zones of Self Important Interest then it's all been a major con in the first place.... on all of us.

In terms of votes, a lot of the Blatter 'bribes' are just him understanding that using some of the development budget to build a pitch or building in a tiny country goes an awful long way. And while he was hardly uncontroversial before, it's worth remembering that one of the things that really kicked off the recent huge outrage was (countries like) England basically automatically deciding there was no way they could possibly have lost the bid for the World Cup if there was a level playing field.
All that's not to say Blatter shouldn't go (and it'll be interesting to see if he ends up getting arrested once the rest have been questioned), but the media narrative probably makes it seem a bit more black and white than it really is.

The issue of the smaller or less developed states having equal say in how FIFA is run is a bit complex. Because those states typically have a high rate of corruption therefore if they have more power then you assume that they would be much more likely to take a bribe or kickback or receive one. Yet, I still think despite the risk they should be allowed equal representation although I am a bit conflicted by it. I think maybe it is a bit silly if a country with lets 5 million people has the same say as China or India with 250 times the population. It is a tough call. I think the system can work as it did before if you get proper oversight. The issue is oversight, it isn't who gets what say in the system. And I like the suggestion that if we find out national federation and its executive took or received a bribe that not only will punish the individual criminally but also ban that nation in voting for 5, 10 or 15 years depending on the violation. That way we reward those countries that are playing it by the book and punish those countries who are appointing corrupt fixers and conmen. And it is just too easy to say oh well country X shouldn't suffer because one of our football chiefs was corrupt. Well this insures that Country X has a vested interested in policing its own federation. Also there needs to be an outside legally empowered entity monitoring the books, and the dealings of FIFA. And in this case it is the FBI and the Swiss.

The sad part of all this is that the African and Asian countries are the ones most hurt by FIFA's actions and they are the ones who are voting for Blatter. I mean FIFA has a billion dollars in cash surplus and all the money that Blatter and his cronies are siphoning away could actually be used to grow the game and infrastructure at the grass roots level in Africa and Asia and in poorer nations as whole. That is why I don't believe the idea that Blatter or Fifa have done anything special in regards of grassroots development. If they didn't steal hundreds of millions then their would be much more money for these type of things in the areas we are discussing. Instead the federation bosses support the people who are actually stealing from the mouths of their children. Very sick if you ask me and further evidence of how Blatter hands out dirty money to the federation chiefs, not for development or charity or growing the game but to get them to continue with the racket.

I could try and make out I believe in democracy but when it comes to something like this I really don't, the elite make the sport so the elite should run the sport, it's that simple and to be honest I don't really care about developing football in poor nations.

Terrible attitude that really.

I could not give a toss quite frankly and i'll take an educated guess and say most of you are labour voters.

Not sure what the relevance of your political persuasion is.

It has a lot of relevance, as a conservative I tend not to care about people worse of than myself nor should I, this argument is exactly the same. Faux opinions of equality and democracy when nobody believes it should be that way, you give poor countries equality and corruption ensues.

I presume you are being a parody of a Tory.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:It has a lot of relevance, as a conservative I tend not to care about people worse of than myself nor should I, this argument is exactly the same. Faux opinions of equality and democracy when nobody believes it should be that way, you give poor countries equality and corruption ensues.

I don't think you're a conservative Harrier as much as you sound a die hard Imperialist

In ways Blatter should be a hero to your philosophy.  After all, he doesn't want poor countries having equality either, preferring to use them simply to keep him in power.  Little trinkets thrown their way to keep them on side as they then obey his wishes.  Bribery of the poor, as it were.  
So like I said before, it seems the real war is after all simply a battle between two Mafia families looking for the biggest share of the contraband, not about corruption at all.

Blatter does the Don line too of course about his enemies: "I'll forgive but never forget"  

I think Scorcese has agreed to direct the next episode.

It didn't come as any surprise the African countries voting for Blatter, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Give a stray cat a bowl of milk and it keeps coming back for me.

I my self am a Monster Raving Looney Party die hard, devastating when Screaming Lord Sutch died, he would have been prime minister now, no justice in the world.

At the end of the day had england and usa had a World Cup in the last 20 or next 10 years and Europe still had its alternate slots there would be no issue with fifa.

People have a lot of issues with the fa, premier league, Uefa etc none of it is particularly kosher, people are just annoyed as fifa have the biggest prize to hand out.

Ent wrote:At the end of the day had england and usa had a World Cup in the last 20 or next 10 years and Europe still had its alternate slots there would be no issue with fifa.

People have a lot of issues with the fa, premier league, Uefa etc none of it is particularly kosher, people are just annoyed as fifa have the biggest prize to hand out.

Qatar getting the World Cup is like the equivalent of Papua New Guinea been given the cricket world cup, the fact that all European  domestic leagues will be disrupted, and its been played close to winter say's everything of how corrupt this has been.

We all knew it had been bought with dirty money.

This clown Blatter better realise its the FBI whose investigating Fifa not some Mickey Mouse police force.

Something about his confidence worries me

Not really bothered about the European leagues being disrupted, happens to the Southern Hemisphere leagues every time.

Had they chosen another host country they wouldn't be in this bother. I think they wanted to go to the Middle East, which has been a foolish decision given the human rights abuses.

Qatar has over 10 times the gdp of Papau New Guinea so not really comparable.

The U.S. itself may be implicated in these cases, and the complaints about heat etc applied to usa 94.

I'm not defending fifa in anyway but I find it all a bit rich as all this has come about because the big boys didn't get what they want.

It will be interesting to see what happens next; will anyone actually try to break away, or will everyone just grumble and keep going. For all the talk of UEFA going it alone, France and Russia (at least) voted for Blatter.

Ent wrote:Not really bothered about the European leagues being disrupted, happens to the Southern Hemisphere leagues every time.

Had they chosen another host country they wouldn't be in this bother. I think they wanted to go to the Middle East, which has been a foolish decision given the human rights abuses.

Qatar has over 10 times the gdp of Papau New Guinea so not really comparable.

The U.S. itself may be implicated in these cases, and the complaints about heat etc applied to usa 94.

I'm not defending fifa in anyway but I find it all a bit rich as all this has come about because the big boys didn't get what they want.

So you think one of the great football nations Qatar, getting the World cup was all legit.I like most in this country and Europe like to watch the Fifa world cup in the summer(when its always been played) with my mates with a short sleeved football top on, just like I always have, not with a wooly jumper and an overcoat on.

Qatar's World cup bought by dirty Middle eastern money.

Has all this started because Qatar and Russia beat England in the race to host the world cup?

Yes it has because it has highlighted the inherent corruption within Fifa, if anyone can explain to me how and why Qatar deserve to host the world cup then go ahead, I doubt any coherent or sensible argument will be put forward. The number of deaths in the 2012 Olympic build was one and that was one too many let alone the thousands of migrant workers dying in order for Qatar to host 2022 mainly because they had no existing infrastructure to do it.

There are a select few nations who could pull off a world cup with the click of a finger and England would be very near the top of that list; the existing stadium we have has both the capacity and prestige.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:It has a lot of relevance, as a conservative I tend not to care about people worse of than myself nor should I, this argument is exactly the same. Faux opinions of equality and democracy when nobody believes it should be that way, you give poor countries equality and corruption ensues.

Do you not understand how sociopathic that makes you sound? It doesn't make you sound conservative, it makes you sound like you are incapable of empathy, which is a very worrying personality trait.

What a load of old crap that is, drop the psychologist act, you seem to have an opinion on everything and frankly I couldn't give a toss about it.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:I could not give a toss quite frankly and i'll take an educated guess and say most of you are labour voters.

Well not quite, Hammersmith, I identify myself as a Thatcherite and a libertarian.

And I still advocate one country = one vote.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:What a load of old crap that is, drop the psychologist act, you seem to have an opinion on everything and frankly I couldn't give a toss about it.

I'm not doing any psychologist act, any ordinary person would be able to tell you that saying you don't care about people worse off than you is a pretty weird thing to say and believe.

A string of European countries including France, Spain and Russia betrayed a supposedly pro-reform mandate to kick Sepp Blatter out of FIFA, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

As many as 18 UEFA nations, including Russia and allies in the eastern bloc, plus Spain and UEFA president Michel Platini’s native France, went against UEFA orders to vote for Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein in Friday’s presidential election.

‘We believe as many as 18 Europeans may have voted for Blatter,’ said a source close to Prince Ali, who polled 73 votes to Blatter’s 133. It is understood a chunk of his 73 ballots came from the Americas.

One veteran FIFA insider told the Mail on Sunday that Blatter’s supporters within Europe include Turkey, Cyprus, Finland, as well as France, Spain and Russia.

Nico the gman wrote:

Ent wrote:Not really bothered about the European leagues being disrupted, happens to the Southern Hemisphere leagues every time.

Had they chosen another host country they wouldn't be in this bother. I think they wanted to go to the Middle East, which has been a foolish decision given the human rights abuses.

Qatar has over 10 times the gdp of Papau New Guinea so not really comparable.

The U.S. itself may be implicated in these cases, and the complaints about heat etc applied to usa 94.

I'm not defending fifa in anyway but I find it all a bit rich as all this has come about because the big boys didn't get what they want.

So you think one of the great football nations Qatar, getting the World cup was all legit.I like most in this country and Europe like to watch the Fifa world cup in the summer(when its always been played) with my mates with a short sleeved football top on, just like I always have, not with a wooly jumper and an overcoat on.

Qatar's World cup bought by dirty Middle eastern money.

I don't think anyone particularly cares how you want to watch the World Cup, time differences are a pain in the ass but South American nations etc still get to host.

World cups been in Asia, Africa for the first time, going to an eastern block country for he first time and the Middle east.

Poor choice of host in the end, but they are all up to no good and the big boys are just unhappy they haven't gotten their way.

Uefa shouldn't be allowed any say really - look at the balls platini has made of the European championships, 22 qualifiers, extended qualifying campaigns and an end to host countries with games all over Europe and 1000s of miles extra travelling for teams and fans.

Ahhh, so its all about the big boys not getting their way. Ok

Jack Warner responds to the US accusations using a headline from the Onion.

You couldn't make this up

Ent wrote:

Nico the gman wrote:

Ent wrote:Not really bothered about the European leagues being disrupted, happens to the Southern Hemisphere leagues every time.

Had they chosen another host country they wouldn't be in this bother. I think they wanted to go to the Middle East, which has been a foolish decision given the human rights abuses.

Qatar has over 10 times the gdp of Papau New Guinea so not really comparable.

The U.S. itself may be implicated in these cases, and the complaints about heat etc applied to usa 94.

I'm not defending fifa in anyway but I find it all a bit rich as all this has come about because the big boys didn't get what they want.

So you think one of the great football nations Qatar, getting the World cup was all legit.I like most in this country and Europe like to watch the Fifa world cup in the summer(when its always been played) with my mates with a short sleeved football top on, just like I always have, not with a wooly jumper and an overcoat on.

Qatar's World cup bought by dirty Middle eastern money.

I don't think anyone particularly cares how you want to watch the World Cup, time differences are a pain in the ass but South American nations etc still get to host.

World cups been in Asia, Africa for the first time, going to an eastern block country for he first time and the Middle east.

Poor choice of host in the end, but they are all up to no good and the big boys are just unhappy they haven't gotten their way.

Uefa shouldn't be allowed any say really - look at the balls platini has made of the European championships, 22 qualifiers, extended qualifying campaigns and an end to host countries with games all over Europe and 1000s of miles extra travelling for teams and fans.

How I choose to watch the World Cup along with millions of other footy  fans is what's important to me and them, so anyone not been particularly bothered how I watch it, is actually you.

The World Cup is played in the summer not the winter, just like the Olympics always has been.

Olympics must have thought ahead by calling them Summer and Winter Olympics, though it must confuse the Southern Hemisphere.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Ahhh, so its all about the big boys not getting their way. Ok

Can you explain how Qatar got the world cup or is that somehow an irrelevance in all this?

Nico the gman wrote:

Ent wrote:

Nico the gman wrote:

Ent wrote:Not really bothered about the European leagues being disrupted, happens to the Southern Hemisphere leagues every time.

Had they chosen another host country they wouldn't be in this bother. I think they wanted to go to the Middle East, which has been a foolish decision given the human rights abuses.

Qatar has over 10 times the gdp of Papau New Guinea so not really comparable.

The U.S. itself may be implicated in these cases, and the complaints about heat etc applied to usa 94.

I'm not defending fifa in anyway but I find it all a bit rich as all this has come about because the big boys didn't get what they want.

So you think one of the great football nations Qatar, getting the World cup was all legit.I like most in this country and Europe like to watch the Fifa world cup in the summer(when its always been played) with my mates with a short sleeved football top on, just like I always have, not with a wooly jumper and an overcoat on.

Qatar's World cup bought by dirty Middle eastern money.

I don't think anyone particularly cares how you want to watch the World Cup, time differences are a pain in the ass but South American nations etc still get to host.

World cups been in Asia, Africa for the first time, going to an eastern block country for he first time and the Middle east.

Poor choice of host in the end, but they are all up to no good and the big boys are just unhappy they haven't gotten their way.

Uefa shouldn't be allowed any say really - look at the balls platini has made of the European championships, 22 qualifiers, extended qualifying campaigns and an end to host countries with games all over Europe and 1000s of miles extra travelling for teams and fans.

How I choose to watch the World Cup along with millions of other footy  fans is what's important to me and them, so anyone not been particularly bothered how I watch it, is actually you.

The World Cup is played in the summer not the winter, just like the Olympics always has been.

I'm sorry hit the fact you want to watch in a t shirt is an irrelevance. It is a world wide event and not around just to suit european viewers. There were 9 am kick offs in 2002, so this is nothing new.

Sorry Ent but you're just wrong, the world cup is and always has been played during the European Summer, it has only changed because of corruption and your insistence on comparing time of year to time of day shows how far off you really are.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Ahhh, so its all about the big boys not getting their way. Ok

Can you explain how Qatar got the world cup or is that somehow an irrelevance in all this?

Its certainly an irrelevance in the point I made. Unless you completely missed the sarcasm.

I overlooked the childish sarcasm Dolph as you don't seem to have an actual opinion on it.

Childish sarcasm? Brilliant. It was justifiable sarcasm as I was quite clearly showing my opinion my dismissing it. Infer the meaning or the written word will forever baffle you.

That's me being patronising, in case you take it too literally.

I kinda see HHs point about equal votes. Its one way Sepp keeps control of FIFA, its far cheaper to buy off the smaller countries with equal funding, and their vote is worth the same as any of the powerhouses.

At the risk of being perceived as arrogant, to me the powerhouses should get more say (yes England are a powerhouse on the pitch no longer, but you won't convince me the same is true off the pitch). There are nations that will never sniff a World Cup, yet apparently are as important to Football as a 7 time world cup winner.