Suspected of corruption, several executives of FIFA were arrested – Le Figaro

VIDEO – A large police operation took place this morning in a Zurich hotel where the Swiss authorities have arrested several officials of FIFA that should be extradited to the United States. The institution has confirmed his side the elections for the presidency Friday.

This is a huge catch. As Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president should be elected for a fifth term on a Friday special congress, the Swiss police arrested a dozen of the world organization of executives in a hotel Zurich this morning. According to information from the New York Times , the police went early this morning in the luxurious Baur au Lac challenge before the leaders in their room while they were gathered at the the annual meeting of the International Football Federation.

According to judicial sources cited by the American newspaper, the charges would relate to money laundering, racketeering and numerous embezzlement committed in the past twenty years. Particularly in the viewfinder, and the conditions of the 2018 World Cup and 2022 are spotted, but also contracts for marketing and TV broadcasting rights. An investigation has been opened in Switzerland after the seizure of documents at the headquarters in Zurich around the attributions World Cup and searches are underway in Miami.

Among the many officials indicted on demand Department of American justice include Jeffrey Webb, the president of the Confederation of North American, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) and vice president of the executive committee, Eugenio Figueredo, also a member of the executive committee, or Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), suspected of numerous ethical violations. The tycoon Sepp Blatter indélogable FIFA president since 1998 and about to begin a fifth consecutive term, is not part of top officials arrested.

On the spot, a force representative of the order confesses “that the system had lasted too long. We are struck by its power and the fact that it touches all parts of Fifa. We are here in a case of institutionalized corruption “. American justice today demand the extradition of the arrested leaders to judge them before the court. Exact charges should be made public in the day by the Brooklyn federal court in New York.

For many years, FIFA is being excavated investigations involving its opacity and its mode of governance widely discussed. The case paid bribes wines were many in the allocation of the last World Cup, the lack of transparency on executive compensation is often pointed to as the organization recorded exceptional sales (5, $ 7 billion between 2011 and 2014). The label “impenetrable Byzantine Empire” often glued to the back of FIFA could now be quickly torn.

In a press conference held at the headquarters of FIFA on Wednesday morning, Walter De Gregorio, the director of communications and public affairs of the institution, confirmed that the elections for the presidency of the federation would although Friday and that “Sepp Blatter and Jerome Valcke, the secretary general, are not involved. FIFA is fully cooperating with the law, it is the victim in this case. “