An official request was made on Thursday for the officials arrested
on corruption charges to be handed over to the FBI
The United States has requested that Switzerland extradite seven
Fifa officials who were arrested on corruption charges in May.
Nine current and former officials were among 14 people indicted on
charges of racketeering conspiracy and corruption following a major
inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The seven in question are able to challenge an extradition ruling, so
the USA could face a lengthy wait before discovering whether the
request will be granted.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) revealed in a statement
on Thursday: "The USA has asked Switzerland to extradite the seven
Fifa officials arrested in Zurich.
The formal extradition requests
were submitted to the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) yesterday
evening.
"The seven FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich on the basis of
a request from the USA, and detained pending extradition.
The US
embassy in Bern submitted the formal extradition requests within the
deadline laid down in the bilateral extradition treaty.
"The requests are based on the arrest warrants issued by the United
States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York,
which is investigating the high-ranking Fifa officers on suspicion of
taking bribes worth over $100 million (€90m).
"In return, those suspected of paying the bribes - representatives of
sports media and sports promotion firms - are believed to have
received media, marketing and sponsorship rights for soccer
tournaments in the United States and in Latin America. These crimes
are thought to have been agreed and prepared in the USA, and
payments were allegedly routed through US banks.
"The Zurich Cantonal Police will give the seven Fifa officials a
hearing on the extradition requests. The FOJ will then grant the
persons concerned, or their lawyers, a period of 14 days in which
to respond to the request... the FOJ will then rule on extradition
within a few weeks."
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