FIFA Officials Have Been Arrested On Suspicion of Corruption

This article originally appeared on VICE Alps

Earlier this morning, several high-ranking Fifa officials were arrested in Zurich on suspicion of corruption, the Swiss authorities have confirmed. The arrested are said to have accepted bribes amounting to £97 million over the course of 20 years. Police detained the suspects at a luxury Zurich hotel, where they were staying in the run-up to the planned re-election of Fifa President Sepp Blatter.

Since the alleged crimes supposedly took place in the US, the accused could face extradition. Several of the six arrested have reportedly already pleaded guilty.

The arrests include:

– Jack Warner, former Fifa vice-president.
– Costa Rica’s national football chief, Eduardo Li.
– President of Conmebol, Eugenio Figueredo.
– Fifa club committee member Jose Maria Marin.
– Jeffrey Webb, head of the confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, Concacaf.

A statement from the Swiss authorities read:

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has 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.

Sepp Blatter, who is not among the arrested, is is set to begin his fifth term as Fifa president. His competitor, Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan, described the affair as “a sad day for football”, but declined to comment further.

More on VICE:

Was English Football Really Better in the 90s? Let’s Decide

Drugs, Raving, Football: The Short Life of My Techno Sunday League Team

Britain’s Most Dysfunctional Football Team Has the Owner It Deserves