FIFA Scandal Rocks World as Match-Fixing Arrests Continue

The world has been rocked by allegations Wednesday that top FIFA officials are now implicated in a wide ranging corruption scandal.

Seven of the most powerful figures in global soccer faced extradition to the United States on corruption charges after being arrested on Wednesday in Switzerland, where authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.

They are accused of accepting more than $150 million in bribes, according to Reuters. 

Those arrested did not include Sepp Blatter, the Swiss head of FIFA, but included several just below him in the hierarchy of sport's wealthiest body.

Of the 14 indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice, seven FIFA officials, including Vice-President Jeffrey Webb, were being held in Zurich. Four people and two corporate defendants had already pleaded guilty to various charges, the department said.

The Miami, Florida, headquarters of CONCACAF, the soccer federation that governs North America, Central America and the Caribbean, were being searched on Wednesday, the DoJ said.

"As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world," said FBI Director James Comey. "Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA."

The arrested FIFA officials appeared to have walked into a trap set by U.S. and Swiss authorities. The arrests were made at dawn at a plush Zurich hotel where FIFA officials are staying ahead of a vote this week where they are expected to anoint Blatter for a fifth term in office.

The scandal comes at a time when match-fixing probes appear to be at an all-time high.

From Newsweek Europe:

While the international football scandal surrounding Fifa and the arrest of its senior officials on corruption charges has shocked the sporting world, the parallel one engulfing Greece yet again seems to be at the forefront of global examples. It expanded last week as six more Greek players were charged in connection with match-fixing and fraud, bringing the total number of those charged, including managers and referees, to 41.

Then there was this, from Gambling911.com last week, regarding the infiltration of the Mafia in Italian football, leading to dozens of arrests:

Authorities claim the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, is behind a match-fixing ring tied to at least 30 football clubs and those taken into custody. Another 20 people were under investigation.