By Chris Wright
*Gulp*
Six FIFA officials, including FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested by Swiss police on suspicion of corruption in dramatic dawn raids at a hotel in Zurich ahead of Friday’s presidential election.
According to the BBC’s report, the six officials – including CONCACAF president Webb, Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay and Brazil’s deputy FA chief Jose Maria Marin – were all held at the exclusive Baur au Lac hotel by Swiss police at the US Department of Justice’s request, with all six men suspected of receiving bribes “totalling millions of US dollars”.
It saddens us to inform you that Sepp Blatter was not the sixth official to be nabbed in Zurich. Indeed, the Guardian add that as many as 15 people may have been arrested worldwide as part of the operation.
The charges stem from a joint investigation by the FBI and US tax authorities that has been in the works since 2011, according to the New York Daily News.
It was proper Tom Clancy stuff by the looks of things – just with more casual wear…
Swiss law enforcement getting room numbers for FIFA execs they are heading upstairs to arrest pic.twitter.com/F69djqpcu5
— Michael S. Schmidt (@MichaelSSchmidt) May 27, 2015
According to the Guardian’s live-blog of events in Switzerland, a decidedly awkward FIFA press conference is now due to begin in Zurich – though the start has been delayed for obvious reasons.
However, quote of the morning must really go to FIFA spokesman Walter de Gregorio, who told reporters without any sense of irony: “The timing is not ideal. FIFA is the damaged party here”. Oh, the poor lambs. #prayforFIFA
The hotel sting came hours before Swiss federal prosecutors announced they had opened criminal proceedings in connection with FIFA awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively – decisions that have been widely denounced as scandalous from all quarters ever since.
As per the Guardian’s report into the matter, the Swiss authorities “seized electronic data and documents” in a separate raid on FIFA headquarters, with police now due to question the ten FIFA executive committee members who took part in the voting.
The purge has begun. Sort of…
De Gregorio #fifa: "The World Cups of 2018 and 2022 will be played in Russia and Qatar." No re-vote. Laughable.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) May 27, 2015