US to prosecute FIFA officials, corporate executives over corruption

A combo picture shows FIFA officials (L to R, from upper row), Rafael Esquivel, Nicolas Leoz, Jeffrey Webb, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose Maria Marin, who were among football officials charged on May 27 for allegedly receiving bribes worth millions of dollars. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: The hammer blow to the world’s most popular sport may have landed in Europe, but it originated here in the United States.

The US Department of Justice has accused nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives of accepting bribes and kickbacks of more than US$150 million, over 24 years.

"They were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest, and protect the integrity of the game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves," said US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

After early morning raids in Zurich on Wednesday (May 27), the focus turned to the Miami headquarters of CONCACAF - the body organising soccer in North and South America and the Caribbean. Its boss, Jeffrey Webb, was also arrested.

The indictment alleges that some of the key meetings connected to the fraud and money laundering took place on US soil, and the American banking system was used to process the ill-gotten gains. That was the only hook needed for the FBI to get involved, using laws previously reserved for going after mafia bosses and terror suspects.

"If you corrupt our shores with your corrupt enterprise, whether that is through meetings or using our world-class financial system, you will be held accountable for that corruption. Nobody is above or beyond the law," said FBI Director James Comey.

The Department of Justice said this is just the beginning of its effort to try and clean up global football. However, six of the seven officials already indicted in Switzerland are refusing extradition, which could drag the legal process out for many years.

Meanwhile, experts said that this could be just the start of the court cases resulting from these allegations, especially relating to the bribery surrounding media rights.

"Potentially, FIFA could have gotten a lot more money for those contracts, and that money should have been filtered down to the youth soccer associations, to developing countries, whatever programmes they have in place," said Heather Lowe, Director of Government Affairs, Global Financial Integrity.

"That obviously didn’t happen because there was essentially price fixing going on here. So there’s potentially civil cases that can be brought by youth soccer associations and developing countries," she added.

Football is growing in popularity in the US, with a record 26.5 million people watching last year’s World Cup final. American TV networks are now keen to buy the rights to such games, and the lucrative marketing contracts to be won – and lost – mean American firms are just as likely to lose out from any corruption.