Six football officials, reportedly from FIFA, have been arrested in Switzerland on corruption charges, Swiss authorities have confirmed.
A FIFA spokesman says that president Sepp Blatter is not involved but vice-president Jeffrey Webb from the Cayman Islands has been arrested, according to the Press Association. FIFA will hold a press conference at 10am.
Authorities in Zurich launched an early-morning operation to detain the officials on corruption charges and extradite them to the United States.
The arrests are understood to have taken place after more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss police officers arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel. There have been allegations of bribery said to involve more than $100m.
Sky Sports News HQ reporter Bryan Swanson said: "Six football officials have been arrested in connection with an on-going corruption investigation by the US authorities. There were dramatic developments outside the hotel overlooking Lake Zurich. We filmed what appeared to be one senior executive being bundled out of the hotel into a waiting car and driven off.
"FIFA have yet to confirm which officials have been questioned by police. Someone inside the hotel has reported seeing a woman crying inside, the implication being that that woman was associated to one of the officials who has been arrested."
Officials from 209-member nations are gathering in Zurich for the FIFA Congress where incumbent Blatter faces a challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in a presidential election on Friday. Prince Ali said it was 'a sad day for football'.
A statement from The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said: "The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kickbacks between the early 1990s and the present day.
"The bribery suspects - representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms - are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries - delegates of FIFA and other functionaries of FIFA sub-organizations - totaling more than US$100m."
In a separate move, officers raided FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, seized electronic data and 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," said a statement from the Swiss attorney general.
FIFA has endured repeated accusations of wrong-doing over the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.
FIFA appointed an independent investigator to look into the allegations and though a summary of his report found some wrong-doing on the part of the Qatari and Russian bid committees, FIFA's ethics judge concluded it was not enough to question the entire process.
However the full report was made available to the Swiss attorney general in Berne last November, in order for him to decide whether criminal charges should follow. The investigator, former attorney Michael Garcia, subsequently resigned from his role after criticising the handling of his report.
(Sky Sports News)
I'm not going to lie. A broad grin slowly crept across my face when I first heard. Once the announcement was made Qatar got the World Cup, that's when the net began to close in on them.
On the flip side, it's disgusting what FIFA have done to the image of football as a whole. Safe to say what they've allowed to happen is coming home to roost now. What would be real success for football though would be for Blatter to get the f*** out. But I suspect that won't happen
A FIFA spokesman says that president Sepp Blatter is not involved but vice-president Jeffrey Webb from the Cayman Islands has been arrested, according to the Press Association. FIFA will hold a press conference at 10am.
Authorities in Zurich launched an early-morning operation to detain the officials on corruption charges and extradite them to the United States.
The arrests are understood to have taken place after more than a dozen plain-clothed Swiss police officers arrived unannounced at the Baur au Lac hotel. There have been allegations of bribery said to involve more than $100m.
Sky Sports News HQ reporter Bryan Swanson said: "Six football officials have been arrested in connection with an on-going corruption investigation by the US authorities. There were dramatic developments outside the hotel overlooking Lake Zurich. We filmed what appeared to be one senior executive being bundled out of the hotel into a waiting car and driven off.
"FIFA have yet to confirm which officials have been questioned by police. Someone inside the hotel has reported seeing a woman crying inside, the implication being that that woman was associated to one of the officials who has been arrested."
Officials from 209-member nations are gathering in Zurich for the FIFA Congress where incumbent Blatter faces a challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in a presidential election on Friday. Prince Ali said it was 'a sad day for football'.
A statement from The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said: "The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kickbacks between the early 1990s and the present day.
"The bribery suspects - representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms - are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries - delegates of FIFA and other functionaries of FIFA sub-organizations - totaling more than US$100m."
In a separate move, officers raided FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, seized electronic data and 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," said a statement from the Swiss attorney general.
FIFA has endured repeated accusations of wrong-doing over the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.
FIFA appointed an independent investigator to look into the allegations and though a summary of his report found some wrong-doing on the part of the Qatari and Russian bid committees, FIFA's ethics judge concluded it was not enough to question the entire process.
However the full report was made available to the Swiss attorney general in Berne last November, in order for him to decide whether criminal charges should follow. The investigator, former attorney Michael Garcia, subsequently resigned from his role after criticising the handling of his report.
(Sky Sports News)
I'm not going to lie. A broad grin slowly crept across my face when I first heard. Once the announcement was made Qatar got the World Cup, that's when the net began to close in on them.
On the flip side, it's disgusting what FIFA have done to the image of football as a whole. Safe to say what they've allowed to happen is coming home to roost now. What would be real success for football though would be for Blatter to get the f*** out. But I suspect that won't happen
