BERN, Switzerland – A 12-member committee set up by FIFA to draw up far-reaching reforms to the organization in the wake of a corruption scandal met for the first time in Bern on Wednesday.
GENEVA, Switzerland – The Swiss Justice Ministry will rule next month on the extradition requests filed by the United States against six FIFA officials who have been accused of corruption, a spokesman said Monday.
Julio Rocha, the former head of the Nicaraguan Football Federation who was one of seven FIFA officials detained in Switzerland in May, has agreed to be extradited to his home country, the Swiss justice ministry said Friday.
A U.S. prosecutor confirmed Friday during a pretrial hearing that former FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb was in the U.S. to face charges as part of a massive corruption scandal.
While former Costa Rican soccer federation president Eduardo Li remains locked up in a Swiss prison, his lawyer says he's optimistic Li will not be extradited to the United States for trial.
Jorge Hidalgo, acting president of the Costa Rican Football Federation, FEDEFÚTBOL, told the website AmeliaRueda.com that U.S. prosecutors are “mistaken” and that there was nothing inappropriate about a $27,500 wire transfer cited in the indictment as proof of wrongdoing.
The 56-year-old president of Costa Rica’s national football federation built himself into a regional and international figure in the sport. But U.S. authorities say that with that rise came the temptations of a vast criminal conspiracy outlined in a sweeping indictment of FIFA.
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.”
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.
Eduardo Li, a FIFA executive committee member from Costa Rica, was among seven people arrested at the luxury Zurich hotel where they were preparing for a congress starting Thursday. All now face deportation to the United States on charges of accepting more than $100 million in bribes.
