The U.S. was not successful. Instead, Qatar — a small, wealthy emirate on the Persian Gulf — became the first Arab country to be awarded the event. And almost immediately the decision to place a summer football tournament in a country where daytime temperatures in those months often exceed 120 degrees drew fierce criticism — and deep suspicion.
The acting president of the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), Jorge Hidalgo described the news of Eduardo Li’s arrest as shocking, and “like the Turrialba Volcano finally erupted on all of us.”
Tens of millions of dollars had been discovered hidden away in offshore accounts in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, said Richard Weber, chief of the U.S. tax agency's criminal investigation division.
NEW YORK – Once the most important man in U.S. soccer, Charles "Chuck" Blazer turned on FIFA to become the central figure in a wide-ranging graft investigation that threatened Wednesday to bring the sport's world governing body to its knees.
Following the early-morning arrest Wednesday of several FIFA leaders, including Costa Rican Eduardo Li, in a massive corruption probe spearheaded by the United States Justice Department, Costa Rica has now opened a money laundering probe into Li's assets here, a high-ranking Costa Rican justice official told The Tico Times.
EL BLUFF, Nicaragua – It’s Saturday morning, and the beach by this southeast Nicaraguan village is full of seaweed and plastic waste. The waves of the Caribbean Sea are choppy because the rainy season has just begun. Conditions are perfect for a day of beachcombing, says 62-year-old Javier Duncan. But he’s not talking about normal sea trash.
In recent years, international cartels moving cocaine, arms and laundered money have installed themselves in key transshipment locations in Latin America and the Caribbean. As their franchises expanded, they have converted several countries into global crime hubs.
NEW YORK – The United States has indicted the son of former Honduran President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo (2010-2014) on drug trafficking charges, U.S. federal prosecutors announced Friday. He faces possible life in prison if convicted.
MEXICO CITY – At least 37 people were killed Friday in a gunfight with federal police in a western Mexico region hit by cartel violence, in one of the bloodiest clashes in the country's drug war.
"The time has come for our country to ... take this step, void of prejudice and strictly abiding by reality and good practices," Costa Rica's major Spanish-language daily, La Nación, writes in a Wednesday editorial supporting the legalization of medical marijuana.
