Napout have been arrested in another pre-dawn
raid of the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on
suspicion "of accepting bribes of millions of
dollars," the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ)
has announced.
The luxury establishment used by FIFA officials
was swooped upon for the second time this year,
with interim CONCACAF president Hawit of
Honduras and CONMEBOL chief Napout of
Paraguay detained on orders issued by the FOJ on
behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The FOJ confirmed in a further statement on
Thursday that the pair are both opposing
extradition to the U.S.
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has not
been arrested as part of this latest raid.
A statement from the FOJ said: "On the
instructions of the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ),
a further two FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich
today. They are being held in custody pending
their extradition. According to the US arrest
requests, they are suspected of accepting bribes
of millions of dollars.
"The high-ranking FIFA officials are alleged to
have taken the money in return for selling
marketing rights in connection with football
tournaments in Latin America, as well as World
Cup qualifying matches."
FIFA has acknowledged the latest controversy,
saying in a statement: "FIFA became aware of the
actions taken today by the US Department of
Justice. FIFA will continue to co-operate fully with
the US investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as
well as with the investigation being led by the
Swiss Office of the Attorney General. FIFA will
have no further comment on today's
developments."
The governing body's executive committee is
currently midway through a two-day meeting.
Hawit was appointed interim president of
CONCACAF, the confederation of countries from
North and Central America and the Caribbean,
after his predecessor Jeffrey Webb was arrested in
a similar raid in May. Napout is the president of
CONMEBOL, the South American confederation.
CONCACAF released a statement on Thursday
saying that it "continues to cooperate with all
government authorities in their investigations"
before adding: "Today's developments only
strengthen the confederation's resolve in
continuing to enact significant structural and
governance changes to the organisation,
including substantial amendments to its statutes
and fundamentally changing how it conducts
business."
CONCACAF statement re: latest round of FIFA
arrests, including CONCACAF president Alfredo
Hawit. pic.twitter.com/ZTviZSyyNL
- Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) December 3, 2015
The FIFA corruption scandal first broke in May
when seven officials, including Webb, were
arrested by Swiss authorities on behalf of the U.S.
Department of Justice, plunging football's world
governing body into meltdown.
Authorities in Switzerland and in the U.S. are
investigating current and former senior football
officials on charges that include racketeering,
money laundering and fraud.
Information from the Associated Press was used in
this report.
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