Top Soccer Officials Indicted on Corruption Charges
The Justice Department has indicted several top FIFA officials as part of an investigation that alleges widespread corruption in soccer’s governing body over the past two decades, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
The charges include wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering. They involve bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals, according to three law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the case.
Prosecutors planned to unseal an indictment as early as Wednesday against more than 10 current and former soccer executives, the law enforcement officials said. Some of those being charged are living abroad and would face extradition to the United States.
The charges are a startling blow to FIFA, a multibillion-dollar organization that governs the world’s most popular sport but has been beset by accusations of corruption and bribery for decades. The inquiry is also a major threat to Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president who is generally recognized as the most powerful person in sports, though officials said he was not charged. An election, seemingly pre-ordained to give him a fifth term as president, is scheduled for Friday.
The Justice Department was working with law enforcement agencies in Switzerland, where FIFA is based, to coordinate arrests. The investigation is based in the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?emc=edit_na_20150526
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