FIFA corruption arrests: All you need to know about the scandal surrounding top officials in Zurich

Seven FIFA executives arrested on corruption charges
The officials are suspected to have received millions in paid bribes
FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb among those detained after hotel raid
Criminal proceedings launched into award of 2018 and 2022 World Cups
Electronic data and documents also seized in raid on FIFA headquarters
Who is Jeffrey Webb? Background of FIFA vice president

Published:
12:24 GMT, 27 May 2015

|
Updated:
13:25 GMT, 27 May 2015

World football was stunned by events on Wednesday morning in Zurich which saw a number of top FIFA officials arrested and detained on corruption charges.

Vice president Jeffrey Webb is among those suspected of receiving paid bribes in the latest scandal to hit world football’s governing body.

Here’s all you need to know about the events of Wednesday after an early morning raid by Swiss police at a Zurich hotel.

Q: What has happened in Zurich today to throw FIFA back into the global spotlight?

Two separate but linked corruption scandals have erupted.

First there was a series of early morning raids and arrests of FIFA officials as a result of a lengthy American investigation into racketeering and corruption by football figures mainly based in the USA and the Caribbean.

The Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich was raided by police on Wednesday as a number of officials were arrested

FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb was among the men arrested for corruption charges

‘The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,’ said Attorney General Loretta E Lynch.

Then the Swiss authorities announced they had raided FIFA’s offices in Zurich to take away electronic files and documents related to alleged corruption around the bid processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, events respectively awarded to Russia and Qatar in a controversial vote in December 2010.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said it had ‘opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 Football World Cups.’

Q: Does this strengthen the widespread belief that FIFA is mired in corruption?

It certainly suggests widespread malpractice and wrong-doing across global football involving FIFA officials, yes. And while the two investigations are separate, they both have global significance, tracing back to FIFA in Zurich.

FIFA’s reputation has taken another hammering after the latest allegations of corruption

For example, one of those arrested in relation to the American investigation is a FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb, of the Cayman Islands, who is also head of FIFA’s internal audit committee, and as such a pivotal figure in all matters relating to money at FIFA. Another arrested is Rafael Esquivel, from Venezuela, who is on FIFA’s disciplinary committee. A third is Jose Maria Marin, of Brazil, who was head of the committee that arranged the 2014 World Cup.

That three key figures involved in FIFA’s financial affairs, discipline and blue-riband event are now being questioned is shocking, as is the knowledge the OAG wants to speak to 10 people on FIFA’s executive committee regarding voting for the hosting of 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Q: Who has been arrested?

US officials have named 14 people indicted in an extraordinary statement HERE

It is believed they have already been arrested or attempts are being made to arrest them. They include nine FIFA officials, of which Webb, Esquivel and Marin are three.

FIFA director of communications Walter de Gregorio spoke at a press conference on Wednesday

A Costa Rican official Eduardo Li was also arrested in Zurich while others in the indictment include Julio Rocha of Nicaragua, Costas Takkas, a former head of the Cayman FA, Jack Warner, a former executive committee member accused on multiple allegations of corruption over many years, Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay (and FIFA vice president), and Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, a former FIFA executive committee member. Four others indicted are sports marketing executive and associates.

The American Department of Justice also revealed that another former executive committee member, Chuck Blazer, has already pleaded guilty to his role in the corruption, as have two of Warner’s sons, Daryan and Daryll. Sources say those three have been assisting investigators for more than two years in return for whistle-blower assistance deals to cut any punishment.

The Swiss OAG have made no arrests in relation to corruption allegations around 2018 and 2022, nor do we know who they may want to question. Their statement is HERE

However Warner, Blazer and Leoz were all among the 22 executive committee voters in 2010.

Q: Was Sepp Blatter arrested?

No. He is not named in any indictment. Nor has he been directly accused of any corruption. He does stand accused of overseeing a FIFA organisation that has been systematically corrupt for decades, however, and for failing to act against corrupt officials even when it was clear they were guilty of misconduct. This was especially true in the case of Warner, to name just one official who Blatter has publicly lauded in the past, saying: ‘You cannot find a better ambassador around the world than Jack Warner … his energy and his belief in the good of the game is remarkable. That comes from my heart.’

FIFA president Sepp Blatter hasn’t directly been accused of corruption and not been named in any indictment

Q: Will Friday’s FIFA presidential election go ahead?

Yes, FIFA’s director of communications and public affairs Walter De Gregorio says the election will go ahead as planned. Blatter is expected to romp to victory to win a fifth term.

Q: What proceedings are underway?

The two separate probes by the Americans and the OAG. De Gregorio on Wednesday revealed that the OAG has been in possession of Michael Garcia’s full report into allegations of corruption in the 2018-2022 process since November. That has yet to be made public. Garcia resigned his FIFA post when FIFA unilaterally misrepresented his findings last year, and cleared 2018 and 2022 to go ahead.

Q: Will there be a 2018 and 2022 re-vote?

A: De Gregorio was asked this and initially said no. Pushed to clarify why, he very slightly altered his position to say, in effect, ‘No, as things stand.’

That theoretically leaves open the possibility corruption could be proved in the process to such an extent that a re-vote is necessary.

FIFA confirmed there would be no re-vote for the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as things stand

Q: What happens next?

A: Both investigations go on. So does the show. Blatter will face Prince Ali of Jordan in the FIFA presidential vote on Friday. Blatter will inevitably win. He will then take to the stage and make a trademark speech about his humility and the good of the game, probably peppering it with metaphors about ships that need to stay on course and trees that have a few bad apples but are fundamentally rooted and decent.