FIFA corruption scandal deepens with latest wave of arrests in Switzerland
The last time Swiss authorities swooped in on the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on the eve of a high-level FIFA meeting back on May 27, it shook soccer to its core. Back then, Swiss police officials hauled off several high-level FIFA executives. Eighteen people were charged in all while the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a sweeping corruption and bribery indictment through money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud.
Within a few days, the newly re-elected president Sepp Blatter announced that he would resign when a successor was elected. A reform committee was formed. Soccer, it seemed, would never be the same.
Early on Thursday morning, more or less the same thing transpired as a dozen more people were charged – some of them arrested at the Baur au Lac. Only this time, it feels more like business as usual. As the DoJ and the Swiss had promised, more of the many men on the take during the Blatter era were being rounded up. And the question immediately became what shockwaves would tremble through the sport this time around.
The DoJ confirmed to the New York Times that Alfredo Hawit of Honduras and Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay were among the dozen arrested and charged. They are suspected of taking millions of dollars in bribes and the U.S. will seek extradition from Switzerland.
Hawit became president of CONCACAF (which encompasses North America, Central America and the Caribbean) after the last president, Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands, was indicted in May and placed under house arrest. His predecessor, Jack Warner, is fighting extradition to the United States after getting charged in May as well. Napout is the president of South America's CONMEBOL, whose two predecessors Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolas Leoz were also charged in May.
In the hours after this latest round of indictments and charges, it wasn't immediately clear what broader impact there would be. But U.S. Soccer quickly put out a statement saying that this summer's stateside Copa America Centenario, which is a joint CONCACAF and CONMEBOL tournament, won't be affected.
"Today's events involving individual members of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL in no way pierce the integrity of the rigorous safeguards the United States Soccer Federation required before agreeing to host Copa America Centenario that ensure the tournament is organized and conducted in a way that is open, transparent and above reproach," read the statement.
"The new Executive Committee that was created to govern the tournament does not include these individuals and they were never in a position to make decisions that would adversely impact those high standards," U.S. Soccer added. "As the [Local Organizing Committee] for the tournament, the United States Soccer Federation remains fully focused on the organization and operation of Copa America Centenario, and conducting the tournament in the most professional and highly principled manner possible."
The 10 other individuals indicted have not been officially identified yet, but none of them are believed to be Blatter or his suspended secretary general Jerome Valcke.
In a statement, FIFA again said it would cooperate fully. "FIFA is aware of the actions taken today by the U.S. Department of Justice," it wrote. "FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the U.S. investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General."
FIFA's Executive Committee was scheduled to hear the Reform Committee's recommendations on Thursday.
UPDATE
On Thursday afternoon, the DoJ announced that it had charged 16 new defendants with 92 counts in its "superseding indictment," including the current and former presidents of the Brazilian soccer federation and Rafael Callejas, the former president of the country of Honduras.
The DoJ also confirmed that Hawit and Napout, both Executive Committee members and Vice Presidents at FIFA, had indeed been charged. It alleged that there had been some $200 million in bribes since 1992. The Internal Revenue Service claimed it had traced funds through 40 difference countries.
The DoJ has received eight guilty pleas so far.
"The betrayal of trust that is set forth here is truly outrageous," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a press conference. "And the scale of corruption alleged herein is unconscionable. And 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."
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
