Senior Fifa officials arrested on corruption charges in dawn raid as Swiss police open criminal investigation into 2018 and 2022 World Cup awards
The world governing body of football, Fifa was plunged into an unprecedented crisis on the eve of its congress in Zurich after Swiss authorities arrested a string of officials and opened criminal proceedings over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
More than a dozen plainclothed officers descended on the five-star Baur au Lac hotel on Wednesday, after officials gathered for Fifa’s annual meeting.
The New York Times reported that US officials had charged 14 officials following an FBI investigation that has been ongoing for at least three years. Those arrested in Zurich face extradition to the US.
Hours after the arrests, Swiss federal prosecutors said they had opened a criminal proceedings in connection with the award of the 2018 World Cup to Qatar and the 2022 tournament to Russia. The decisions have been shrouded in claims of bribery and corruption ever since the vote in December 2010.
The Swiss authorities seized “electronic data and documents” in a raid on Fifa headquarters. Police will question ten members of the Fifa executive committee members who took part in the votes. It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss and US investigations were connected.
The arrests on behalf of the US authorities form part of an international investigation into bribes worth $100m (£65m) spanning three decades. The allegations date back to the 1990s and involve “the acceptance of bribes and kickbacks”, Swiss officials said.
Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb, of the Cayman Islands, was among the six arrested, it is believed. He is the head of Fifa’s north American regional body, known as Concacaf, which reported itself to US tax authorities in 2012.
The organisation had not paid taxes for several years when its president was Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer was secretary general.
The Guardian understands as many as 15 people worldwide might have been arrested as part of the operation.
The Swiss federal office of justice said those arrested in Zurich were pending extradition at the request of US authorities.
The New York Times has reported that the charges include wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering. The US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, is due to hold a news conference later on Wednesday, the paper said.
The Swiss 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 (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and other functionaries of Fifa sub-organisations – totalling more than $100m.
“In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.”
Zurich cantonal police arrived at the Baur au Lac hotel at about 6am on Wednesday morning. They stopped at the reception to get the room numbers for the officials they intended to arrest. The men were not handcuffed as they were led away from the hotel. “Very peaceful,” tweeted NYT reporter Michael Schmidt. “Hotel staff meanwhile is freaking out.”
Photographs showed officers hiding the suspects behind sheets as they escorted them to unmarked cars. One, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, was allowed to bring his luggage as he left through a side door, the NYTreported.
Reporters were shooed away shortly after arrests began. “We’ve just been turfed out of the opulent lobby of the Baur au Lac hotel where Fifa’s top brass habitually gather when they come to Zurich,” reported Owen Gibson, the Guardian’s chief sports correspondent.
The last time international media attention was focused on the Baur au Lac was four years ago, when US and British World Cup bids were rejected in favour of Russia and Qatar. Suspicions of vote-buying and wrongdoing in those bidding contests have dogged Fifa ever since.
This time, officials are in Switzerland for the Fifa congress and presidential election, where Sepp Blatter is expected to win a fifth term at the helm of the organisation.
Blatter was not among the men arrested, Fifa spokesman Walter de Gregorio said. “He is not involved at all,” De Gregorio added.
The charges stem from a joint investigation by the FBI and US tax authorities that has been ongoing since at least 2011, according to the New York Daily News website. US law gives prosecutors broad powers to arrest foreign nationals living abroad on charges with the slightest domestic connection, like the use of US banks.
Swiss officials said the suspects’ deportation could be sanctioned immediately. The statement added: “The Zurich cantonal police will question the detainees today on behalf of the FOJ regarding the US request for their arrest.
“A simplified procedure will apply for wanted persons who agree to their immediate extradition. The FOJ can immediately approve their extradition to the US and order its execution.
“However, if a wanted person opposes their extradition, the FOJ will invite the US to submit a formal extradition request within the deadline of 40 days specified in the bilateral extradition treaty.”
Last November, Fifa’s ethics committee closed its investigation into the controversial bidding process that saw Qatar named as host of the 2022 World Cup, ruling that any breaches of the rules were only of “very limited scope”.
The decision to award Qatar the tournament was hugely controversial, prompting an avalanche of allegations about the way it won the bid and concerns about the searing heat in which matches would be held as well as the treatment of migrant workers building the infrastructure underpinning it.
But Fifa said an investigation did not find any direct link between the World Cup bid and illicit payments made by the disgraced former Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam, a Qatari who was banned for life for paying bribes during a campaign to unseat Blatter as president.
Blatter, who has led Fifa since 1998, has weathered several corruption storms battering the multibillion dollar organisation.
Jordanian prince Ali bin al-Hussein – who is standing against Blatter in Friday’s election – called Wednesday’s arrests a “sad day” for football. He and European federation chiefs say a change of leadership is now urgently needed to save Fifa’s tainted image.
