More officials arrested in FIFA scandal, including CONCACAF head

Swiss authorities have made another set of arrests in the FIFA corruption scandal early Thursday morning in Zurich.

SI Wire | Dec 3, 2015

More officials arrested in FIFA scandal, including CONCACAF head /

CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit and CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout were among a number of FIFA officials arrested early Thursday morning by Swiss authorities, The New York Times reports.

The new series of arrests, which took place at the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, come at the behest of an ongoing U.S. investigation into corruption in international soccer, according to the report. The new proceedings follow the May arrests of several top soccer officials at the same hotel.

Hawit was named acting president of CONCACAF after previous president Jeffrey Webb was charged with racketeering, money laundering and fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice in May. Webb was among the FIFA officials detained during the May raid at Baur au Lac.

Other notable arrests Thursday morning include those of the former and current president of the Brazil soccer federation, Ricardo Teixeira and Marco Polo del Nero, The Times also reported.

More than a dozen people are expected to be charged in the new round of arrests, according to The Times. Current and former leading soccer officials will reportedly face a variety of corruption charges.

GALLERY: Faces of the FIFA scandal

Faces of the FIFA Scandal

Sepp Blatter

Elyxandro Cegarra/Panoramic/Icon Sportswire

FIFA president

Jerome Valcke

FIFA general secretary

Michel Platini

UEFA president; FIFA Vice President; FIFA presidential hopeful

Jack Warner

Ex–CONCACAF president; FIFA Vice President

Jeffrey Webb

Ex–Cayman Islands federation and CONCACAF president; FIFA Vice President

Chuck Blazer

Ex-CONCACAF general secretary; FIFA executive committee

Alfredo Hawit

CONCACAF President; FIFA vice president, executive committee; Former president, Honduras football federation

Juan Angel Napout

CONMEBOL president, FIFA vice president, executive committee; Former president, Paraguay football federation

Jose Luis Meiszner

CONMEBOL general secretary

Marco Polo del Nero

Former FIFA executive committee; President, Brazil football federation

Ricardo Teixeira

Former FIFA executive committee; Former president, Brazil football federation

Eduardo Li

Ex–Costa Rica federation president; FIFA, CONCACAF executive committees

Eugenio Figueredo

Ex–Uruguay federation and CONMEBOL president; FIFA Vice President

Jose Maria Marin

Ex–Brazil federation president; CONMEBOL executive committee

Rafael Salguero

Former FIFA executive committee; Former president, Guatemalan football federation

Manuel Burga

FIFA development committee; Former president, Peru football federation

Ariel Alvarado

Former president, Panama football federation; FIFA disciplinary committee

Eduardo Deluca

Former CONMEBOL, Argentina football federation general secretary

Luís Chiriboga

CONMEBOL executive committee; President, Ecuador football federation

Rafael Callejas

FIFA television and marketing committee; Former president, Honduras; Former president, Honduras football federation

Rafael Esquivel

Ex–Venezuela federation president; CONMEBOL executive committee

Carlos Chavez

CONMEBOL treasurer; Former president, Bolivia football federation

Nicolas Leoz

Ex–CONMEBOL president, FIFA executive committee

Julio Rocha

Ex–Nicaragua federation and Central American Football Union president

Romer Osuna

FIFA audit and compliance committee; Former CONMEBOL treasurer.

Alejandro Burzaco

CEO of Torneos y Competencias

Aaron Davidson

President, Traffic Sports USA

Hugo Jinkis

President, Full Play Group

Mariano Jinkis

Vice President, Full Play Group

Loretta Lynch

U.S. Attorney General

Michael Lauber

Switzerland Attorney General

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will not face arrest, according to the report.

The ongoing criminal investigations into FIFA by multiple countries and agencies have destabilized soccer’s world governing body. Blatter, who announced his intention to resign from his position just days after the May indictments, is currently serving a suspension for alleged wrongdoing regarding a 2006 World Cup television contract, as well as a controversial payment made to UEFA president Michel Platini in 2011.

The U.S. Department of Justice said after the May arrests that legal proceedings stemmed from decades of “rampant, systematic and deep-rooted corruption” in FIFA.

FIFA officials remained in Zurich for an executive committee meeting Thursday.

Published Dec 3, 2015

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