What happened on Thursday?
Two more Fifa executive committee members have been arrested in dawn raids at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel on the shores of Lake Zurich. The arrests were made by Swiss police acting on the instructions of the US Department of Justice. According to the New York Times, more than 12 people are expected to be charged as a result of the operation.
Doesn’t this have a familiar ring?
The dawn raids had echoes of May’s dramatic swoop, when Swiss police arrested a string of top Fifa officials just days before Sepp Blatter was due to stand for re-election. The US Department of Justice unsealed indictments for money laundering, racketeering and other offences against 18 people and seven current or former high ranking Fifa officials. That precipitated the crisis.
Who are they?
The two Fifa vice-presidents who were arrested have been confirmed as Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, the president of the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation Concacaf, and Juan Ángel Napout, president of the South American confederation Conmebol.
Why have they been arrested?
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice has said: “They are being held in custody pending their extradition. According to the US arrest requests, they are suspected of accepting bribes of millions of dollars.” Payments are alleged to have been routed through US bank accounts.
Why are the arrests centred on South America and Central America?
The majority of the US indictment was devoted to outlining complex schemes in which executives from Conmebol and Concacaf allegedly took bribes on TV and marketing contracts over decades amounting to $150m.
Chuck Blazer, the American former Concacaf general secretary, turned supergrass after being threatened over millions of pounds in unpaid taxes related to commissions skimmed from broadcasting deals.
Hawit becomes the third current or former Concacaf president to be arrested as part of the continuing investigation, following Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb.
Warner was the longstanding Fifa executive who survived a series of scandals and is fighting extradition from Trinidad and Tobago, while Webb was seen as a reformer who was tipped by Blatter to replace him. Webb is under house arrest in the US.
How many others will be charged?
The New York Times is reporting that more than 12 individuals could be charged as part of the latest wave of arrests.
Is the Swiss investigation continuing?
Yes. While the FBI focuses on the schemes established in South America, Central America, the Caribbean and the US, the office of the Swiss attorney general is focusing on the 2018/22 World Cup bidding race. It has identified 121 suspect transactions, seized property suspected of being related to money laundering and is examining 11 terabytes of data. It was that investigation that led to Blatter and Michel Platini being provisionally suspended by Fifa’s ethics committee over a suspect £1.3m payment in 2011.
What does this mean for the Fifa presidential race?
The election is still likely to go ahead in February and officials were on Thursday insisting it was “business as usual” at their continuing Fifa executive committee meeting.
Five members of the committee were missing having been arrested, suspended or in one case because he was otherwise absent.
