Soccer-Paraguay politician seeks to remove CONMEBOL HQ immunity

By Daniela Desantis ASUNCION, May 29 (Reuters) - The president of Paraguay's congress tabled a motion on Friday calling for the annulment of a law giving judicial immunity to the headquarters of South America's soccer confederation CONMEBOL. The headquarters of the organisation, which has been caught up in the FIFA corruption scandal with arrest orders for two of its former presidents, sits in 40 hectares on the outskirts of Asuncion. Paraguay passed a law in 1997 giving the CONMEBOL building immunity, a status similar to that of an embassy. "At the time of its approval as law there were other circumstances," Blas Llano, head of congress, said in his address tabling the motion. "The idea was to make Paraguay the (CONMEBOL's) permanent home and for the place to become a tourist attraction. "But those circumstances have changed with the investigations that are public knowledge and deserve to be revoked," added Llano, a senator in the opposition Liberal Party. A U.S. extradition order hangs over Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz, who was CONMEBOL president for 27 years before retiring citing health issues amid a corruption probe in 2013. Uruguayan Eugenio Figueredo, who succeeded Leoz and held office until last year, was among seven top FIFA officials arrested in Zurich on Wednesday on orders from the U.S. Department of Justice. CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout has suggested the motion was due to a change in attitude towards football authorities in the region. "Napout says times have changed," spokesman Nestor Benitez told Reuters from Zurich where they both attended Sepp Blatter's reelection to a fifth term as president of world body FIFA. (Writing by Rex Gowar; Editing by Peter Rutherford)