# FIFA Officials Arrested On Corruption Charges **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 27, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946 "2015-05-27T06:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/1 "2015-05-27T06:23:15Z")
About freaking time. The Swiss authorities arrested about 10 FIFA top authorities and plan to extradite them to the US where they will face the charges. Although Sepp Blatter was not among them, Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago was, probably the most infamous criminal among them. For those that don’t know, FIFA ranks only with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) as the most brazenly corrupt sports organization in the world. Bribery is widespread and barely concealed. It’s why Qatar got the World Cup for 2022, but this stuff has been going on for a lot longer than that. The biggest offenders are from CONCAFAF, which includes nations such as the USA, Mexico, and Canada, but the real offenders are from much smaller nations, which wield disproportionate power, probably due to their willingness to pay bribes. Should be an interesting next few months… > **[FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Blatter Isn’t Among Them...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news)** > > As FIFA leaders gathered for a meeting, Swiss law enforcement officials arrived unannounced and made arrests at the Justice Department’s request on charges including racketeering and money laundering. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/2 "2015-05-27T07:49:31Z")
Although BBC is reporting that the arrests are relating to offences from the 1990’s not the WC awards. Wonder if Blatter will do the decent thing and [del] jump off a cliff [/del] resign. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/3 "2015-05-27T08:30:15Z")
Live updates from _The Guardian_ [here](http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/may/27/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-live) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/4 "2015-05-27T09:30:44Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Although BBC is reporting that the arrests are relating to offences from the 1990’s not the WC awards. And now they are reporting that Swiss prosecutors are also investigating corruption in the WC 2018 and 2022 bidding processes. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/5 "2015-05-27T09:38:55Z")
Reports also state that Swiss Police have raided the FIFA headquarters as well as the hotel arrests. Apparently those are two separate strands of investigation. Brilliant! this could be so much fun. Is schadenfreude also a word in strangely pronounced Swiss-German? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/6 "2015-05-27T09:53:44Z")
God I hope this is the day I’ve been waiting for for years. Please let it be so. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/7 "2015-05-27T10:00:24Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > And now they are reporting that Swiss prosecutors are also investigating corruption in the WC 2018 and 2022 bidding processes. They have been doing that for years. The arrests are based on American charges unrelated to thst. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/8 "2015-05-27T10:14:32Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > About freaking time. The Swiss authorities arrested about 10 FIFA top authorities and plan to extradite them to the US where they will face the charges. Although Sepp Blatter was not among them, Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago was, probably the most infamous criminal among them. > > For those that don’t know, FIFA ranks only with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) as the most brazenly corrupt sports organization in the world. Bribery is widespread and barely concealed. It’s why Qatar got the World Cup for 2022, but this stuff has been going on for a lot longer than that. > > The biggest offenders are from CONCAFAF, which includes nations such as the USA, Mexico, and Canada, but the real offenders are from much smaller nations, which wield disproportionate power, probably due to their willingness to pay bribes. Should be an interesting next few months… > > [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news) I love Warner! He is so hilariously corrupt and criminal but just refuses to acknowledge it, funny in his own way. > **[Official 'was offered $40,000' after Mohamed bin Hammam presentation](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/may/30/mohamed-bin-hammam-fifa)** > > This is a picture of the money a Caribbean official says he was offered after a presentation by the Fifa presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/9 "2015-05-27T10:27:27Z")
The press conference that has just finished was hilarious. Apparently this is a “good day” for FIFA. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/10 "2015-05-27T11:09:31Z")
Well, seems like a classic FBI case of going after a mob. Catch a little rat, who gives you a bigger rat. Maybe they can still get the biggest rat of them all. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/11 "2015-05-27T11:34:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They have been doing that for years. The arrests are based on American charges unrelated to thst. Seems there are two strands. The arrests based on American charges, and a separate ongoing investigation by Swiss authorities (initiated on 10th March this year). Here’s the press release from the Swiss Attorney General [https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-57391.html](https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-57391.html) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/12 "2015-05-27T11:39:04Z")
I love that one of the arrested people, Jeffrey Webb, was the deputy head of the FIFA internal audit team. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/13 "2015-05-27T12:49:05Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I love that one of the arrested people, Jeffrey Webb, was the deputy head of the FIFA internal audit team. Why? The KGB’s MO was to always have a mole in targeted countries Counter Intelligence. If **I** was running a racket, the oversight people are one of the first port of call to [del] bribe[/del] i_nfluence_ ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/14 "2015-05-27T13:09:55Z")
FBI has now raided the CONCAFAF headquarters in Miami. This is going to be a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/15 "2015-05-27T13:20:39Z")
I know zero things about soccer or any of this, but it seems striking that the guy in charge of the organization wasn’t arrested along with everybody else. Any chance he actually helped orchestrate this, to get rid of enemies or to get ahead of the inevitable or something? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/16 "2015-05-27T13:23:07Z")
Seems unlikely. The Justice Department appears to be handling this in the classic mob case manner. They’ve flipped the little guys to get the middle guys. Eventually the middle guys will get the boss for them. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/17 "2015-05-27T14:19:13Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Why? The KGB’s MO was to always have a mole in targeted countries Counter Intelligence. > > If **I** was running a racket, the oversight people are one of the first port of call to [del] bribe[/del] i_nfluence_ True. A racket doesn’t work unless the accountant is in on it. Those books don’t cook themselves. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/18 "2015-05-27T14:31:07Z")
So if they get convicted, does the 2022 World Cup get moved away from Qatar? While I understand that soccer fans have been against the Qatar selection from the beginning, the country has put tons of money (and, from what I hear, lives) into building World Cup venues, do those just get wasted? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/19 "2015-05-27T14:31:55Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I love that one of the arrested people, Jeffrey Webb, was the deputy head of the FIFA internal audit team. What? The FIFA bosses need to make sure they’re getting their fair share of the bribe money. Those yachts are expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946/20 "2015-05-27T14:48:21Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I know zero things about soccer or any of this, but it seems striking that the guy in charge of the organization wasn’t arrested along with everybody else. > > Any chance he actually helped orchestrate this, to get rid of enemies or to get ahead of the inevitable or something? > [@friedo](#): > > Seems unlikely. The Justice Department appears to be handling this in the classic mob case manner. They’ve flipped the little guys to get the middle guys. Eventually the middle guys will get the boss for them. Sepp Blatter seems to be making a case that this was all their idea. > [@](#): > > Yet, within hours, FIFA’s head of media Walter de Gregorio was turning the situation on its head. > > The raid was a result of action that FIFA had itself taken, he told reporters. Far from being a disgrace, it was an essential, if undignified, part of a cleaning-up process Blatter began in 2011, at the start of his fourth mandate. > > And, while Blatter was not in the happiest of moods, the 79-year-old was ready for Friday’s election for a fifth term. > > SOURCE: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/27/us-soccer-fifa-blatter-analysis-idUSKBN0OC1QV20150527?utm\_source=twitter](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/27/us-soccer-fifa-blatter-analysis-idUSKBN0OC1QV20150527?utm_source=twitter) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges/720946.md?page=2)