ZURICH, Switzerland – Sepp Blatter won a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday in a dramatic end to an angry campaign dominated by a corruption storm that engulfed the leadership of world football.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter did not raise the many calls made for him to resign for Friday's election, as he opened FIFA's annual congress one day after seven top football officials were arrested as part of a U.S corruption inquiry.
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.
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy – Costa Rican cyclist Andrey Amador, who currently ranks third in the Giro d’Italia, said Monday during a break from the race that he is “proud” and “motivated” to defend his position “for as long as I can” before facing the last week of competition.
