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Swiss extradite ex-FIFA official to the United States

 
Published July 17, 2015

Former FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb has been extradited to the United States after his arrest in Switzerland on racketeering and bribery charges filed by American prosecutors.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said Thursday the man was extradited a day earlier after 50 days of detention.

"He was handed over to a three-man U.S. police escort in Zurich who accompanied him on the flight to New York," the ministry said in a statement.

Two people familiar with the case identified the defendant as Webb and confirmed he has been brought to the United States. The people, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, declined to disclose his exact location.

Webb, who is from the Cayman Islands, was president of the CONCACAF, soccer's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, and a FIFA vice president at the time of his arrest.

A total of 14 men — nine soccer officials and five marketing executives — were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department in May, including former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, who is resisting extradition from Trinidad and Tobago. Webb promised reform when he was elected in 2012 to succeed Warner as president of CONCACAF.

A further four, including former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer and two sons of Warner, had their guilty pleas unsealed in May.

They are alleged to have taken part in a racketeering conspiracy paying bribes of more than $150 million over a 24-year period. The payments were tied to the award of broadcast and hosting rights for the World Cup, continental championships in North and South America, and regional club tournaments.