Two FIFA officials were arrested at the request of US authorities on Thursday in a widening bribery case that has rocked soccer’s scandal-hit governing body.
Swiss police made pre-dawn raids at the luxury Baur au Lac hotel in downtown Zurich, the same place where arrests on May 27 sparked the FIFA corruption crisis.
The Swiss Ministry of Justice said in a statement the two men, who were not identified, are “suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars.”
However, a senior FIFA official — who did not want to be named — said the two officials detained were Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras.
“The two who were arrested are Juan Angel Napout from Paraguay and Alfredo Hawit Banegas from Honduras,” the FIFA official said.
Napout is president of the South American Football Confederation, while Hawit is president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football.
“The high-ranking FIFA officials are alleged to have taken the money in return for selling marketing rights in connection with football tournaments in Latin America, as well as World Cup qualifying matches,” a ministry statement said.
The ministry did not name the pair, but said it would do so later in the day.
The bribes are linked to marketing rights for the Copa America and World Cup qualifying matches, the statement said.
“FIFA is aware of the actions taken today by the US Department of Justice,” the governing body said in a statement.
“FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the US investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General. FIFA will have no further comment on today’s developments,” it said.
It is a further strike by the US department at the heart of FIFA ahead of a key meeting of soccer’s international leaders.
The arrests were made ahead of a 9am FIFA executive committee meeting which is to approve wide-ranging reforms to help protect against corrupt officials.
The reforms are a response to the dual US and Swiss federal investigations of corruption implicating FIFA leaders and which forced FIFA president Sepp Blatter to announce his resignation plans in June.
At the meeting, the committee said it could expand the World Cup to 40 teams starting at the 2026 tournament.
According to a document seen by reporters, the plan to add eight teams and 32 matches is part of the reform proposals. If accepted, it could become FIFA policy without the approval of the 209 member federations.
The 2026 bidding should start next year with the US, Canada and Mexico the expected candidates.
Separately, FIFA’s ethics committee opened proceedings against Marco Polo del Nero, the sport’s top executive in Brazil.
The investigation was opened on Nov. 23 by the investigatory chamber of the committee, panel spokesman Andreas Bantel said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
De Nero faces allegations of ethics code breaches, which will be looked into by the investigatory panel.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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