Two Latin American soccer executives indicted in the new twist in the FIFA corruption scandal have denied any wrongdoing.
They are Ariel Alvarado, a Panamanian who sits on FIFA’s disciplinary committee, and Manuel Burga, former president of the Peruvian Football Federation.
They were among 16 men whose indictments were announced in Washington on Thursday. The 16 are all from the South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
Alvarado issued a statement saying: “As surprised as I am, with a sense of personal responsibility and as a sports leader... I must say that I am convinced that each of the charges against me will be cleared up.”
Burga for his part told RPP radio: “I want to make this clear. I have not taken any bribes. I am not corrupt.”
Swiss government agents swept into a luxury hotel before dawn for a second wave of arrests on corruption charges in the wake of another sweeping indictment by US prosecutors.
Five current and former members of FIFA’s ruling executive committee were among the 16 additional men charged with bribes and kickbacks in a 92-count indictment.
“The betrayal of trust set forth here is truly outrageous,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. “The scale of corruption alleged herein is unconscionable.”
Former Honduran president Rafael Callejas, who was in office from 1990 to 1994 and is a current member of FIFA’s television and marketing committee, was indicted, as was Guatemalan Constitutional Court judge Hector Trujillo.
Also among those charged was Ricardo Teixeira, the president of Brazilian soccer from 1994-2012. Teixeira is a former son-in-law of Joao Havelange, who was FIFA’s president from 1974-1998. In addition, guilty pleas were unsealed for former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb and former executive committee member Luis Bedoya.
The 236-page superseding indictment was handed up by a grand jury in New York on Nov. 25.
Eleven current and former members of FIFA’s executive committee have been charged in the investigation, which alleges hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payments over the past 25 years that involved the use of US banks and meetings on American soil. The past three presidents of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have been indicted.
“The message from this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows, hoping to evade this ongoing investigation: You will not wait us out and you will not escape our focus,” Lynch said.
Honduras said later on Thursday that the US had requested Callejas’ extradition and the Central American nation would cooperate with Washington.
“Nobody is above the law,” Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s government said in a statement.
At a news conference in the capital, Tegucigalpa, Callejas said his lawyers were studying the accusations and considering what steps to take.
“I will fight unwaveringly to clear up my legal situation in the United States,” the former leader said.
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