FIFA'S senior officials arrested on corruption charges

Fifa congress opens as sponsor concerns grow over arrests

28 May 2015

From the section EuropeFootball's governing body Fifa is due to open its annual congress despite warnings from sponsors that they may review ties over the arrest of senior officials on corruption charges.

Visa says it will reassess its sponsorship unless Fifa makes changes. Coca-Cola and Adidas voiced concern.

The European football body Uefa will decide whether to boycott Friday's vote for the next Fifa president.

Seven top Fifa officials were arrested on corruption charges on Wednesday.

Fifa provisionally banned from football-related activity 11 of the 14 people charged by the US authorities on Wednesday. They are accused of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

But it said the election on Friday - in which Fifa president Sepp Blatter is seeking a fifth term - would go ahead.

'Disastrous image'

Commenting a day after the arrests, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC there was "something deeply wrong at the heart of Fifa and international football needs to reform, needs to get its act together".

French Foreign Secretary Laurent Fabius said the arrests were "giving a disastrous image" to Fifa. It "would make sense" to delay Friday's vote, he told French Inter radio, to "see what is true and not and then the authorities can adjudicate".

Mr Blatter, who has not been named in the investigations, issued a statement on the US case, saying: "Such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game."

He is due to make his first appearance since the arrests at Fifa's annual congress in the Swiss city of Zurich on Thursday. However, he has already cancelled an appearance at a medical conference which his spokesman said was "for obvious reasons".

Swiss prosecutors have also opened a separate investigation into the bidding process for the World Cup tournaments in 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar.

■Key questions answered

■Who are indicted officials?

■Why the Americans took on Fifa

'Highest standards'

Fifa's key sponsors have faced increasing calls to put pressure on Fifa as corruption allegations have mounted.

■Credit card giant Visa said: "We expect Fifa to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues. Should FIFA fail to do so, we have informed them that we will reassess our sponsorship"

■Coca-Cola said: "This lengthy controversy has tarnished the mission and ideals of the Fifa World Cup"

■Adidas said it was "fully committed to creating a culture that promotes the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and we expect the same from our partners"

■McDonald's, a second-tier sponsor, said the latest developments were "extremely concerning" and it was closely monitoring the situation

■Hyundai Motor told the BBC it was "extremely concerned about the legal proceedings being taken against certain FIFA executives and will continue to monitor the situation closely"

Fifa's main sponsors are afforded exposure in stadiums and have the right to use Fifa trademarks in advertising.

The current and former Fifa executives indicted include Rafael Esquivel, Nicolas Leoz, Jeffrey Webb, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose Maria Marin

Uefa reacted to the latest events by saying they were "a disaster for Fifa and tarnish the image of football as a whole".

It said corruption was deeply rooted in Fifa's culture.

The European body said Friday's congress risked becoming a "farce" and that the vote should be postponed.

'Year after year'

Those indicted in the US case are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period beginning in 1991.

Spelling out details of the US case, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said some Fifa executives had "used their positions to solicit bribes. They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after tournament".

FBI director James Comey said: "The defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world."

The seven arrested in Zurich were vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo; Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel and Jose Maria Marin. They face extradition requests from the US.

The seven were subject to the new Fifa ban, along with Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Chuck Blazer and Daryll Warner.

Jack Warner, a former Fifa vice-president, turned himself in to police in his home nation of Trinidad and Tobago late on Wednesday evening. Mr Warner is accused of soliciting $10m in bribes from South Africa's government over the hosting of the 2010 World Cup.

Mr Warner, who spent the night in prison after delays in processing his $395,000 bail, says he is innocent of any charges.

Mr Leoz, 86, is in hospital suffering from flu, his lawyer Fernando Barriocanal said, adding that the Paraguayan was surprised by the charges and ready to defend himself.

Ms Lynch said the charges included:

■receiving bribes to award media and marketing rights to football tournaments

■receiving bribes to influence the decision of where tournaments should be hosted - including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the 2016 Copa America in the US

■racketeering - organised illegal activity

■money laundering

■wire fraud - or obtaining money by fraudulent means

In the second case, Swiss prosecutors opened criminal proceedings "against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups".

Swiss police said they would question 10 Fifa executive committee members who participated in the votes that selected Russia and Qatar in December 2010.