(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The football world was plunged into turmoil yesterday as seven powerful soccer figures were arrested on US corruption charges and faced extradition from Switzerland, whose authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.
The senior Fifa officials were arrested in a dawn raid at a five-star Zurich hotel.
US prosecutors said they aimed to make more arrests but would not be drawn on whether Fifa President Sepp Blatter was a target of the probe. Blatter, 79, is standing for re-election to a fifth term at the Fifa Congress in Zurich tomorrow, and Fifa said the vote would go ahead as planned.
The European soccer body UEFA called for the election to be postponed, saying "the European associations will have to consider carefully if they should even attend this Congress."
US authorities said a total of nine soccer officials and five sports media and promotions executives were charged in cases involving more than $150m in bribes over a period of 24 years. They said their investigation exposed complex money laundering schemes, millions of dollars in untaxed incomes and tens of millions in offshore accounts held by Fifa officials.
Swiss police arrested the seven Fifa officials - all from the Latin American and Caribbean region - and detained them pending extradition proceedings to the United States, which could take years if they contest the process. The Federal Office of Justice in Switzerland said that six would contest extradition, but that one person agreed to be extradited.
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