Fifa's Castle Starting To Crumble?

Six Fifa officials including vice-president Jeffrey Webb arrested

Six Fifa officials including vice-president Jeffrey Webb arrested
Six Fifa officials, including vice-president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested on suspicion of corruption in dawn raids at a Zurich hotel ahead of Friday's presidential election.

The members of the world governing body were held by Swiss police at the US Department of Justice's request.

They are suspected of having received bribes totalling millions of US dollars, the Swiss authorities said.

The FBI and US Department of Justice will hold a news conference later.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term in charge of the organisation when he stands for re-election on Friday, is not one of those arrested.

But vice-president Webb - who is also head of the North America, Central America and Caribbean football federation - is among those held, according to BBC Radio 5 live's sports news correspondent Richard Conway, who is in Zurich.

Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay and the Brazilian deputy FA chief Jose Maria Marin were also taken away from the five-star Baur au Lac hotel.

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Among the six officials arrested are Eugenio Figueredo, Jose Maria Marin, Jeffrey Webb and Eduardo Li

Members of Swiss law enforcement were still present in the hotel at 0800 BST but the main activity and arrests seemed to be over by then.

Li was due to join Fifa's executive committee on Friday, while Marin, who was led out of a side exit, is a member of Fifa's club committee. The officers were carrying his black suitcase and some of his possessions in plastic bags.

A high-level meeting of Fifa officials is now under way at their headquarters and a news conference is expected at 1000 BST.

Swiss authorities began their operation to arrest the Fifa officials at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel, pending extradition to the US, early on Wednesday.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said those held were being investigated "on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day", totalling "more than $100m" [£65m at current rates].

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Chuck Blazer became an FBI co-operating witness and was given a wiretap used in a series of meetings in London in the summer of 2012.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke briefly visited the hotel on Wednesday morning but declined to comment.

A Fifa spokesperson said: "We have seen the media reports and and are seeking clarity in this matter. We will make no further comment at this stage."

Blatter is to go head-to-head against Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan in Friday's presidential election.

Following a meeting with his advisors on the impact of the arrests on the upcoming vote, Prince Ali said: "Today is a sad day for football."

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An image from the New York Times, which first broke the story, of the raids happening

From Richard Conway, BBC Radio 5 live's sports news correspondent, in Zurich:

"I was in the lobby of the hotel this morning. One Fifa official was oblivious to the news so I think a lot of people are waking up to this this morning.

"It's too early to say if the election will go ahead. The indication from officials this morning is they see no reason why it should not.

"Sepp Blatter has not been arrested. Prince Ali of Jordan has not been affected and remains at the hotel.

"In theory there is no reason why the elections should not go ahead but the impact of this could be seismic. The arrests could have a significant impact on the voters, we will have to see the fall-out.

"This is a highly significant move here this morning. We have been expecting developments in an FBI investigation, but coming just two days before Fifa elects its new president it's very significant."

Conway on how the arrests came about:

"Blazer was part of Concacaf, which Jeffrey Webb is part of, and ousted in about 2012. An internal report allegedly showed that together with Jack Warner, who also led Concacaf, they embezzled around $88m [£57m at current rates] over the course of 20 years.

"Chuck Blazer had an apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York and apartments in Miami. It turned out that the Hummer car he drove was bought by the organisation.

"That obviously attracted the attention of law enforcement. They, according to reports, gave him a wiretap and that was used at a series of meetings in London in summer 2012 in which conversations took place with a number of leading officials.

"Those conversations are said to have spurred on this investigation and today I think we are starting to see the results, perhaps, of those conversations - that wiretap evidence. This investigation has been on-going in the US."

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NY Times reporter Matt Apuzzo, one of the New York Times journalists who broke the story: "These are big names in the soccer world"

These ****s will sing like canaries and the whole lot of them from the very top down the chain of thieves and conmen will end up in US federal jails were they belong.......hopefully

 

Sepp Blatter hiding where?

 

its all politics.

these 6 were arrested... who knows if they were pro or anti blatter or even on the fence in the elections

I would say this could be two things

1. could be the worlds really saying hey you corrupt ****s

or

2. blatter arranged his corrupt swiss friends arrest 6 guys to force his election through

 

Best fcking news I've heard in ages.

And that Prince Ali is wrong. This isnt a sad day for football. It's a fcking glorious one

One thing doesnt make sense is that this wire tap has been there since 2012 and only just doing something about it now. And there had recently been an enquiry into corruption and the Feds dodnt share this?

 

Figo called Blatter a dictator recently

 

Glad to see that bent **** Jack Warner is one of those who've been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Racist prick

 

This is the problem. Fifa is so closed off and secretive who knows where these people stand or if this helps or hinders Blatter.
However, even if Blatter escapes any charges, it can be said all this corruption is happening under his watch. Its going to take someone outside of Fifa to clean it all up, but external candidate doesn't really stands a chance of beating Blatter as he has the whole of Africa in his pocket.

 

Even Blatter can't survive this.

There's no way his henchmen are going to go down protecting him, even the mafia squawk when there's a deal on the table, I just hope the fat auld twat lives long enough to end up sharing a cell with a 18st gay black fella with a penchant for Grandad figures.

 

He's got all the money and he can use these guys as cut outs.

Given how the English guy was made look corrupt by fifa at world cup via the watch incident the thing is they seem utterly unconcerned by using the thing the world hates about them.. corruption... as a tool internally to beat each other.

I honestly think they feel utterly immune to it and this may just be another internal power thing and not what I would hope it is which is a huge wake up call.

 

You cant escape the FBI. This isnt some FIFA organised bollox investigation. It's the FBI and once they go public like this you know they're out for blood. Just look at organised crime in the USA. This is exactly the same. I am absolutely sure the house of cards will crumble here.

 

Not this time.

This is the US federal system that's got a hold of FIFA's bollocks, not some nonsense internal inquiry that was a complete whitewash and not even what the fella employed to carry it out ****ing concluded

For the US to force arrests on foreign soil, they've got an extremely strong case to both extradite and prosecute these bent ****ers

We all know what's been going on for years, Qatar was merely them being blazen about it, but they've been on the take for donkeys and Blatter was their protector, hence the reason they showed him such fierce loyalty. He owned them...............

 

I hope so but the old man havalange was just as bad if not worse and taught blatter all he knows

Platini is batters man really and probably just as up to his neck in it.

I just still winfer and think I'd like to see an actual extradition done to show this is bit just another blatter game

 

No chance its an "internal power thing" mito.

The US Justice dept and the FBI aren't going to be manipulated into a high profile case like this by warring candidates for the Fifa presidency.

All it takes is one memo/email/phone call/bank transaction etc to link others to those already caught, and that includes Blatter.

 

Trust me, Blatters arse will be welded to his 5 star hotel suites pan at the minute.

The game's up mate. They'll have tracked electronic money movements that have them banged to rights.

 

I'd hope so but somehow....

Well I'd love to hear blatter steps down headline but the issue is next guy in will be as bad

 

Not if it's Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein mate, he's a decent egg and has a will to rid FIFA of the stench of corruption

This could be a real turning point, but I understand your scepticism.

 

How many arrested were opponents of Blatter

We all knew how rotten FIFA are, they are no different from politicians ffs.
Political elections are just as farcical as FIFA elections

 

None.

Webb and Warner were his 2 strongest allies.

 

According to CNN it was an American Fifa rep looking for immunity for tax evasion that opened the can of worms.

"
Chuck Blazer.

Blazer had found himself in a bind. He allegedly hadn't paid his taxes for many, many years and was looking at serious prison time. So he became an informant, who provided documents and recordings of meetings with FIFA colleagues that hinted at not-so-kosher dealings, law enforcement officials said."

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/27/us/fifa-corruption-investigation-why/index.html

 

CNN - The indictment names 14 people on charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. In addition to senior soccer officials, the indictment also named sports-marketing executives from the United States and South America who are accused of paying more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for media deals associated with major soccer tournaments....................

With more than $1.5 billion in reserves, FIFA is as much a global financial conglomerate as a sports organization. With countries around the world competing aggressively to win the bid to host the World Cup, Mr. Blatter has commanded the fealty of anyone who wanted a piece of that revenue stream. He and FIFA have weathered corruption controversies in the past, but none involved charges of federal crimes in United States court.
United States law gives the Justice Department wide authority to bring cases against foreign nationals living abroad, an authority that prosecutors have used repeatedly in international terrorism cases. Those cases can hinge on the slightest connection to the United States, like the use of an American bank or Internet service provider. - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/s...ion-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html?_r=0

[it does say soccer but in fairness US reports have to make a distinction since to them 'football' is a different game.]