Live - Fifa officials arrested in Zurich as part of corruption and bribery probe

An early-morning raid on a hotel saw a number of leading Fifa executives detained by the authorities

Swiss authorities performed a dawn raid on Wednesday to arrest several top Fifa officials, with the intention of extraditing them to the United States on federal corruption and bribery charges.
The early-morning operation comes as Fifa prepares for its annual congress in Zurich, with incumbent president Sepp Blatter standing for re-election and widely expected to be once again crowned the most powerful man in sport on Friday.
Such is Blatter's sway that he is still strongly fancied to be re-elected despite this morning's developments, but the sight of more than a dozen plain-clothed law enforcement officials arriving at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel to gather evidence and arrest suspects could be a seminal moment in the fight against alleged Fifa corruption.
The investigation is believed to be a Swiss-American cooperation, leaning heavily on the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn.
The FBI and IRS in America have been able to investigate Fifa's alleged wrongdoing with far more weight than their international colleagues since Concacaf chief Chuck Blazer agreed to secretly record meetings in a bid to help reduce tax evasion charges against himself.

Live: Latest updates as Fifa executives are detained in Zurich

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14 arrests thought to have happened worldwide, including Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb - Sepp Blatter's heir apparent.
Swiss authorities detail charges as "bribes and kick-backs... totalling more than US$100m"

8:02 am

One of those named is Aaron Davidson.
Davidson is president of Traffic a group that does a whole raft of things, including partnerships, marketing, media rights and all sorts.
They also own three football clubs and have several other official club partners:

7:58 am

An arrest as it happened

Astonishing scenes:

7:49 am

Sponsor pressure

This is a very good point from Rob Draper.
For years people have implored sponsors to do what is right and walk away from their ties with Fifa. Only now, with world football's governing body not just in a swirl of corruption controversy but having been swept through by the tornado of American justice, might we see that attitude begin to change.

7:44 am

Ground Zero

This is where this morning's dawn raid occurred: The Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich.

It is here that six of the officials are thought to have been detained, with the other names on that list below being simultaneously arrested elsewhere.

7:39 am

14 people charged, claim New York Times

And they've named them as well. The first group are all football officials:

Jeffrey Webb
Eugenio Figueredo
Jack Warner
Eduardo Li
Julio Rocha
Costas Takkas
Rafael Esquivel
Jose Maria Marin
Nicolas Leoz

There were also a bunch of sports-marketing executives named (who you probably won't have heard of): Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis. Authorities also charged someone else called José Margulies, who - they allege - acted as an intermediary to facilitate the illegal payments.

7:36 am

Jack Warner isn't believed to be in Zurich, but the disgraced former head of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation is one of those that reports are suggesting has been arrested elsewhere.
Warner, who England's 2018 World Cup bid shamelessly courted to try and win the rights to host the tournament, has a huge amount of allegations against his name but never faced justice after resigning from Fifa.
Now though, it appears that things may have changed.

Suspended FIFA executive member Jack Warner

7:26 am

Where is Blatter?

Well we don't know yet, but in two hours he is due at a meeting.
Blatter definitely was not among the men arrested, Fifa spokesman Walter de Gregorio has now told reporters.
“He is not involved at all,” De Gregorio said.
But Blatter is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Confederation of African Football at 10.30am local time in a different downtown Zurich hotel. Whether he will still attend is a different matter entirely.

7:20 am

Sepp Blatter NOT arrested

For clarification, Fifa president Sepp Blatter is not thought to have been arrested by forces investigation bribery, corruption and racketeering charges.
We asked about the timing earlier on, and here is a possible explanation of why it is today:

7:18 am

How quickly things change

Only a month ago, Uncle Sepp posted this (or his social media team did, at least):

7:15 am

Those scenes described earlier by eye-witnesses of Fifa officials being covered by bed sheets as they were removed by the side door?
They have begun to surface, but the bed sheets are well-ironed and there are plenty of people protecting these execs:

7:13 am

"As many as 15 arrests"

Although Swiss authorities have recently confirmed six arrests took place in Zurich this morning, the Guardian is now reporting that as many as 15 people worldwide might have been taken into custody.
An astonishing global swoop.
You wonder whether the timing was chosen to impact the vote on Friday - in which Sepp Blatter is 99.9% likely to be re-elected - or whether it was simply a case of all the targets being in the same place?
More as we get it...

7:10 am

I think it's fair to say that this man has had a far more eventful early shift than he was expecting:

7:07 am

Statement from Swiss authorities

By order of the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), six soccer officials were arrested in Zurich today (Wednesday) and detained pending extradition. The US authorities suspect them of having received bribes totaling in the USD millions.
The six soccer functionaries were arrested today in Zurich by the Zurich Cantonal Police . The FOJ’s arrest warrants were issued further to a request by the US authorities. The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating these individuals on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day. The bribery suspects – representatives of sports media and sports promotion firms – are alleged to have been involved in schemes to make payments to the soccer functionaries – delegates of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and other functionaries of FIFA sub-organizations – totaling more than USD 100 million. In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.
Questioning of detainees
The Zurich Cantonal Police will question the detainees today on behalf of the FOJ regarding the US request for their arrest. A simplified procedure will apply for wanted persons who agree to their immediate extradition. The FOJ can immediately approve their extradition to the US and order its execution. However, if a wanted person opposes their extradition, the FOJ will invite the US to submit a formal extradition request within the deadline of 40 days specified in the bilateral extradition treaty.

7:01 am

Fifa statement

This from a Fifa spokesman (and via the BBC's Richard Conway):
"We have seen the media reports and and are seeking clarity in this matter.
"We will make no further comment at this stage."
Probably for the best, lads.

6:58 am

Tangled Webb

Fifa vice president Jeffrey Webb of Concacaf is also understood to have been among those detained in Zurich.
That is the second name to emerge already.
The 50-year-old was actually one of several Fifa officials to publicly call for the Garcia Report into allegations of corruption to be published.
He has served as part of Fifa's anti-discrimination task force and has a a background in banking.

6:49 am

"Peaceful arrests"

Those at the scene are reporting that those rudely-awaken officials did not put up a struggle and "at least two men" were taken away without even being handcuffed (per New York Times).
And we have the first name, Eduardo Li, a Costa Rican executive, was seen being escorted from the Baur au Lac hotel via the side door.
The same source reports that detainees were allowed to take with them their luggage, adorned in Fifa logos.
I wonder if it was the same bags spied by The Guardian's Owen Gibson yesterday?

6:39 am

Six Fifa officials are understood to have been arrested in Zurich as part of an early-morning corruption raid.
The charges, believed to be linked to a long-standing FBI investigation into bribery, are a result of cooperation between American authorities and the local Swiss forces, with plain-clothes officers arriving at Fifa's hotel this morning to make arrests.
Law enforcement officials were then seen exiting the five-star property with bags of evidence before removing executives - some covered by bedsheets to obscure their identities.
The New York Times is reporting that the federal charges brought are set to include racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud and span two decades of misconduct.
Chuck Blazer, the disgraced chief of Concacaf, aided authorities with their inquiries after he secretly taped conversations to help reduce huge tax evasion charges brought against him.
MirrorFootball will keep you up to date with the latest as it breaks.