More FIFA officials arrested

The body s long-time president Sepp Blatter, the subject of criminal investigation in Switzerland, has been suspended for 90-days and is facing tougher punishment by FIFA s internal ethics watchdog.

“According to the U.S. arrest requests, they are suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars”, the ministry said.

The New York Times said in the latest action authorities were targeting current and former senior football officials on charges that included racketeering, money laundering and fraud.

The new indictment identified Brazil Football Confederation chief Marco Polo del Nero and former CBF head Ricardo Teixeira in the list of defendants, both former FIFA executive committee members.

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.

Blatter was re-elected Federation Internationale de Football Association president on May 29, two days after the first raid in Zurich by Swiss police resulted in seven officials arrested and criminal proceedings opening regarding “systematic and deep-rooted” corruption in soccer.

FIFA President, who announced he will step down as president in February, and Jerome Valcke, the group’s secretary general, were not among those targeted.

Federal prosecutors in the United States on Thursday (Friday, December 4 PHT) announced criminal charges against 16 Federation Internationale de Football Association officials, alleging they were part of a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves while overseeing the world governing body of soccer.

Two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested in Switzerland even as the body’s executive committee met to discuss key reforms.

Also Thursday, FBI agents raided the offices of Miami-based Media World, whose parent company is a unit of Spanish media production group Imagina, EFE confirmed.

Jeffrey Webb, the one-time president of CONCACAF, pleaded guilty last month in NY federal court to racketeering, wire-fraud and money-laundering charges.

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 United States banks and meetings on American soil. In an earlier exchange, he said he supported the US investigation “from Day One”.

CONMEBOL said it would “continue co-operating at all times with the investigation of authorities, and will continue deepening administrative reforms…”

Napout, from Paraguay, and Hawit, from Honduras, are resisting extradition to the US while being detained in Zurich-area jails. Today, I can report that eight additional defendants have agreed to plead guilty for their involvement in the corruption schemes we have outlined. “You will not escape our focus”, she added.

As Lynch’s office brought new charges against FIFA associates, soccer’s governing body voted unanimously to implement a series of proposals to refurbish the organization.

“Today’s developments only strengthen the Confederation’s resolve in continuing to enact significant structural and governance changes to the organization, including substantial amendments to its statutes and fundamentally changing how it conducts business”, a spokesperson stated. According to the indictment, Figueredo, when making a USA naturalisation application, falsely stated that he was exempt for an English language and civics exam because of he suffered from severe dementia.