Swiss arrest more officials

“We need to heighten the transparency and establish a rule that would not allow fraud”, added Tashima, who said a notice was made on the arrests and allegations of the two at the start of the meeting.

Blatter has been suspended for 90-days and is facing tougher punishment by FIFA’s ethics watchdog.

According to Swiss authorities, Hawit and Napout are alleged to have taken kickbacks in return for marketing rights to football tournaments in Latin America and World Cup qualifying matches.

Eleven current and former members of Fifa’s executive committee have been charged in the investigation, which says hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payments over the past 25 years involved the use of USA banks and meetings on American soil.

Seven other people charged in connection with the racket have now pleaded guilty.

Federal Bureau of Investigations New York Assistant Director in Charge, Diego Rodriguez, said the most recent wave of charges is one more step forward in the effort to level the playing field of soccer.

The raid on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich echoed arrests at the same place in May that plunged Federation Internationale de Football Association into crisis. Shortly afterwards, two cars with tinted windows were seen leaving the hotel.

FIFA’s reform committee on Thursday said any meaningful change to FIFA must come from within – that uphill battle was highlighted further this week when the Argentine Football Association’s attempt to hold a democratic election ended in farce when organisers discovered an extra vote among the 75 cast by the assembly.

Responding to questions over whether the timing of the ExCo’s briefing was appropriate given the arrests, Hayatou said: “FIFA does not control justice, as you know very well”.

U.S. Department of Justice officials were expected to appear at a news conference in Washington on Thursday to discuss the case, people familiar with the plans said.

The others are Manuel Burga – former Peru FA president, Carlos Chavez – Bolivia football president, Luis Chiriboga – Ecuador football president, Marco Polo del Nero – Brazil football president, Eduardo Deluca – Conmebol general secretary, Jose Luis Meiszner – former Conmebol secretary general, Romer Osuna – Bolivia football audit and compliance committee chief and Ricardo Teixeira – former Brazil FA chief.

Chilean soccer federation president Sergio Jadue resigned also last month and travelled to Miami, amid media reports he was co-operating with US investigators. The FBI has a leadership role in the investigation, working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement, as well as the ATF and U.S. Marshals Service.

Leading FIFA sponsors Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI.BR), Adidas (ADSGn.DE), Coca-Cola (KO.N), McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) and Visa Inc (V.N) on Tuesday published an open letter demanding independent oversight of the reform process.

Within a few days, the newly re-elected president Sepp Blatter announced that he would resign when a successor was elected.