First FIFA Official Accused of Corruption Extradited to U.S. From Switzerland
ZURICH, Switzerland, July 16 (UPI) — An unnamed FIFA official arrested on corruption charges was extradited from Switzerland to the United States on Wednesday.
The man was taken to New York by a three man police escort. A court appearance is expected soon, as U.S. federal rules state charged defendants must be brought before a judge “without unnecessary delay.”
Jeffrey Webb, 50, is presumably the person who was extradited, as he waived his right to fight the U.S. extradition request. The remaining six officials will fight against extradition. These seven executives are among 14 officials with soccer’s world governing body indicted on corruption charges.
Webb, a Cayman Islands native, is the former president of CONCACAF, Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA), and FIFA vice president. He is accused of “accepting bribes totaling millions of dollars in connection with the sale of marketing rights to various sports marketing firms and keeping the money for himself.”
FIFA has been embroiled in chaos and controversy since late May after the U.S. Justice Department charged 14 FIFA officials and corporate executives of “racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer.”
The scandal led FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who won reelection days after the charges were announced, to declare his pending resignation, which could come as early as December.
High-ranking FIFA officials, including Blatter, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke and former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner, have come under legal scrutiny by the FBI and Swiss authorities.
