Swiss police arrest 10+ FIFA officials: indicted by US Dept of Justice

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Schad

Schad

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Aug 6, 2011
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html

They're facing extradition to the US over corruption charges relating to the award of the 2022 World Cup. I'm as shocked as anyone to hear tell of corruption in FIFA, but perhaps the Americans know more than we and the sainted organization. Multiple members of theExecutive Committee arrested.

The timing is so, so beautiful...they were swept up as they arrived in Zurich to vote Blatter back into his role.

Blatter isn't one of them, but this probe gained steam when they flipped Chuck Blazer, former American Executive Committee member. They might operate like the mob, but something tells me those officials may not subscribe to the same code of silence now that they're facing charges...
 
This is shocking indeed. Who would've thought FIFA and its senior members could be corrupted. I sure hope this doesn't mean the world cup gets moved away from that hot, arid ****-heap of a host country everyone was so looking forward to visiting.
 
Among those known to have been arrested:

Jeffrey Webb: FIFA Vice-President (Cayman Islands).
Eugenio Figueredo: outgoing FIFA Vice-President (Uruguay).
Eduardo Li: President of the Costa Rican Football Association.
Jack Warner: former CONCACAF President (Trinidad & Tobago).
 
They way they're sweeping them up, I wonder whether they're aiming for RICO indictments. No idea how likely that is, but it could easily end with Blatter...the RICO statute exists largely to roll up the leaders of criminal organizations who leave their underlings to do the real dirty work, and a better description of FIFA one will not find.
 
This could get interesting. My bet is they very quickly get segregated from FIFA, who wash their hands of them and if the heat really turns up, certain senior people step down and disappear.

Teflon springs to mind.
 
This is great news for the good of our wonderful game but hopefully is only the start.
From what I know, most of the FIFA delegates involved in the awarding of the forth coming World Cups have strangely retired straight afterwards so no doubt the cops will be visiting them shortly.
Once all these have spilled their info then The Big Man may be getting a visit too
 
As so many will feel, I am amazed and shocked. Who would have thought it?

The USA must be one of the toughest countries to be tried for this sort of thing...you can go to jail there for stuff we would scarcely blink at. Couldn't happen to a nicer group of people. Any lawyer will tell his client...be the first to speak up and you could get away with it.
 
Dark Lord SFC said:
This is great news for the good of our wonderful game but hopefully is only the start.
From what I know, most of the FIFA delegates involved in the awarding of the forth coming World Cups have strangely retired straight afterwards so no doubt the cops will be visiting them shortly.
Once all these have spilled their info then The Big Man may be getting a visit too
Click to expand...

The 4' nothing Big Man? :)
 
fatletiss said:
This could get interesting. My bet is they very quickly get segregated from FIFA, who wash their hands of them and if the heat really turns up, certain senior people step down and disappear.

Teflon springs to mind.
Click to expand...

They will try, I'm sure. But if they can get a couple of those arrested to testify that FIFA has undertaken a pattern of criminal activity directed or abetted at the top, backed by evidence from the Garcia report and the Blazer wiretap, Sepp and friends are going to have to find an awfully deep hole to disappear down...I don't think the ones arrested here are the sum total of those targeted.
 
:mad:
AberdeenSaint said:
Good on the yanks - but why does it take them to take the action, and in Europe too ?. Shame on Europe`s collective Associations for not taking a lead and instigating sorting them out.
Click to expand...

Not wishing to tread to close to a line where I could be accused of making slanderous comments, but they may be, er, um, "friends" of people in that organisation <whistle>
 
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We certainly stepped forward and questioned what was going on, but the FA was always accused of having an agenda and treated with contempt by FIFA. I think EUFA should consider stepping back and withdrawing from the World Cup.
 
Heard a rumour a few weeks ago about possible arrests. To be honest I didn't give it any credence at the time although it was widely known there was an investigation going on. May I just remind people they have been arrested for Alleged corruption and have not yet faced a jury.
Should the allegations be proved and for heavens sake........ by an American investigative team........ what chance have the rest of the FIFA of re-building their reputation?
Doesn't say too much for the rest of the worlds investigative prowess does it? The smart asses of the European countries that chose to ignore or not follow up the allegations in the beginning, should also be held to account for not investigating them properly. I am, as others have said, wondering if the surface of the problem has only just been scratched?
It was more than a bit of a surprise, to most countries, when the announcement was made regarding Qatar getting the WC and suspicions were certainly raised at the time.
The fallout from this is going to be around for quite a while me thinks.......
 
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