Update | Fifa in turmoil as twin graft probes shock world soccer on eve of presidential election

Swiss police swoop in dawn raid in Zurich as key figures face US indictment on racketeering, conspiracy and corruption charges

A police van drives past the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, where six of the seven Fifa officials were arrested in a dawn raid. Photo: Reuters
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Introduction

Seven of the most powerful figures in global soccer faced extradition to the United States on corruption charges after being arrested yesterday in Switzerland, where authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.

The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil after US and Swiss authorities announced separate inquiries into the activities of Fifa, the game's powerful ruling body.

Watch: World soccer rocked after FIFA graft arrests

US authorities said nine soccer officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced charges relating to "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption involving more than US$150 million in bribes.

The US Department of Justice said the charges were in connection with the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2011 Fifa presidential election.

The seven officials arrested in Zurich did not include Sepp Blatter, the Swiss head of Fifa, but included several just below him in the hierarchy of sport's wealthiest body. They are Fifa vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel and Jose Maria Marin.

Illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa 
FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY

US authorities said four men and two sports marketing companies had already pleaded guilty. They are believed to be cooperating with the investigation.

Among them was Chuck Blazer - who for nearly two decades was the most senior American official at Fifa - who officials said had pocketed millions of dollars in marketing commissions and avoided paying tax.

Guilty pleas were also given by Daryan Warner and Daryll Warner - sons of former senior Fifa official Jack Warner - and Jose Hawilla, the owner of the Brazil-based sports marketing firm Traffic Group. The two companies to enter guilty pleas are owned by Hawilla. US officials say he has agreed to forfeit more than US$151 million.

"As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world," FBI director James Comey said. "Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at Fifa."

The arrests were made at dawn at a plush Zurich hotel where Fifa officials are staying ahead of a vote tomorrow when they are expected to anoint Blatter for a fifth term in office.

Fifa spokesman Walter De Gregorio said the arrests were a "difficult moment" but the election would still be held and the World Cups would go ahead. He said Fifa was the "damaged party" and the investigations "can help contribute to rooting out any wrongdoing in football".

Swiss prosecutors said they had opened separate criminal proceedings against unidentified individuals on suspicion of mismanagement and money laundering related to the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

The US Department of Justice said sports marketing executives were alleged to have paid and agreed to pay "well over US$150 million in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments".

"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.

"It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks."

Fifa collects billions of dollars in revenue, mostly from World Cup sponsorship and television rights. It has persistently been dogged by reports of corruption that it says it investigates itself, but until now it has escaped major criminal cases in any country.

In particular, the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, a tiny desert country with no tradition of soccer, was heavily criticised. Fifa was forced to acknowledge that it is too hot to play there in the summer, forcing schedules around the globe to be rewritten.

Three years ago Fifa hired a former US prosecutor, Michael Garcia, to examine allegations of bribery over the awarding of the World Cups to Qatar and Russia. Last year it refused to publish his report, releasing only a summary in which it said there were no major irregularities. Garcia quit, saying his report had been mischaracterised.

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