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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Top FIFA officials arrested by Swiss
File photograhs show Internationale de Football Association （FIFA） officials, left to right from the top row, Rafael Esquivel, Nicolas Leoz, Jeffrey Webb, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose Maria Marin, who were detained by Swiss authorities yesterday in Zurich as part of a US investigation into corruption within FIFA. Photo: AFP
RUDE AWAKENING: Police officers were at Zurich’s Baur au Lac hotel at 6am to detain FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb and six others wanted by Washington
/ AFP, ZURICH, Switzerland
The dawn detention of several Internationale de Football Association （FIFA） leaders and a corruption raid on its headquarters yesterday rocked world soccer’s governing body two days before its president, Sepp Blatter, seeks a new term.
A FIFA vice president was among seven people arrested at the luxury Zurich hotel where they were preparing for a congress that starts today. All now face deportation to the US on charges of accepting more than US$100 million in bribes.
US authorities said nine soccer officials are among 14 people facing charges over the longstanding corruption.
Separately, Swiss police seized files and e-mails at FIFA headquarters as part of an investigation into the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. The 2010 vote by FIFA that attributed the events has been surrounded by widespread allegations of fraud.
However, FIFA spokesman Walter de Gregorio yesterday said there was no question of changing the venues. He also said Blatter is not involved in the investigations and that the presidential vote would be held as planned tomorrow.
“The timing is not great,” de Gregorio told reporters, adding: “FIFA welcomes actions that can help contribute to rooting out any wrongdoing in football.”
Blatter has been the overwhelming favorite to win a fifth term at the head of the multibillion=dollar body, but yesterday’s events could swing many votes.
His only challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan, called the arrests “a sad day for football.”
The prince and European federation chiefs say a change of leadership is now urgently needed to save FIFA’s tainted image.
The FIFA spokesman said Blatter was “relaxed” about the future fallout from the investigation.
“He isn’t dancing in his office,” de Gregoria said. “He is very, very calm, he sees what happens. He is fully cooperative with everybody.”
Swiss police gave a surprise 6am wake up call to FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb, from the Cayman Islands, and other six officials at the luxury Baur au Lac hotel.
A US Department of Justice statement said seven people were detained. It also said they could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the investigations “spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.”
Webb is head of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football （CONCACAF） and an ally of Blatter. US police also raided the CONCACAF headquarters in Miami.
Eduardo Li, a FIFA executive committee member from Costa Rica, and Eugenio Figueredo, president of the South American Football Confederation from Uruguay, were also among those detained.
The Swiss Ministry of Justice said those detained were suspected of accepting “bribes and kickbacks between the early 1990s and the present day.”
A ministry statement said that representatives of sports media and sports marketing companies allegedly paid bribes “in exchange for the media rights and the marketing rights for competitions in the United States and South America.”
The seven could agree to be extradited immediately or challenge the move in court.
The Swiss raid on FIFA’s headquarters formally opened an investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that FIFA itself asked for in November last year.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
