Damiani resigns from FIFA ethics committee in Panama Papers fallout - FIFA

Yahoo – AFP, April 6, 2016

Juan Pedro Damiani resigned from the FIFA ethics committee in the Panama Papers
fallout, FIFA announced on April 6, 2016 (AFP Photo/Pablo Bielli)

Geneva (AFP) - Uruguay's Juan Pedro Damiani has resigned from FIFA's ethics committee after the Panama Papers showed his law firm acted as an intermediary for a disgraced FIFA official.

"We can confirm that Mr. Damiani resigned from his position as member of the adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee of FIFA," panel spokesman Marc Tenbuecken told AFP in an email.

Juan Pedro Damiani is under investigation

 by the FIFA watchdog after he was named

 in the Panama Papers (AFP Photo/Michael

Buholzer)

The Panama Papers indicate that Damiani's firm helped Eugenio Figueredo -- the former head of the South American football confederation who is now facing corruption charges in the United States -- set up a shell company.

The leaked documents also show that Damiani's firm acted as a go-between for a Nevada-based company linked to two other people charged with corruption by the US: businessmen Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano of Argentina.

Damiani, who heads the prestigious Uruguayan club Penarol, has won praise for publicly crusading against corruption in scandal-tained South American football.

He has denied wrongdoing in the Panama Papers case, while FIFA's ethics watchdog has opened a probe into the matter.

Honduran ex-president pleads guilty in NY

Yahoo – AFP, Jennie Matthew, 28 March 2016

Former Honduran president Rafael Callejas leaves the Brooklyn federal court in 

New York, March 28, 2016 after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy

 and wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the FIFA corruption scandal (AFP Photo/

Kena Betancur)

New York (AFP) - Former Honduran president Rafael Callejas pleaded guilty in New York Monday to conspiracy to commit racketeering and wire fraud in connection with the FIFA corruption scandal rocking world football.

The 72-year-old, who has been free on a $4 million bail in the United States since leaving Honduras by private jet last December to face American justice, will be sentenced on August 5.

The two counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

"Guilty," Callejas told Magistrate Judge Robert Levy in a federal court in Brooklyn, entering his plea. He spoke calmly in fluent English with a US accent, and was dressed in a dark suit.

Callejas served as president of Honduras from 1990 to 1994. He was head of the country's football federation from 2002 to 2015, and is also a former member of FIFA's Television and Marketing Committee.

He originally faced eight charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty on December 15.

"I knew it was wrong," he told court Monday, admitting to receiving bribes for awarding media and marketing rights contracts to a Florida-based company for Honduran FIFA World Cup qualifier matches.

As part of his plea, he agreed to forfeit $650,000 -- $180,000 to be paid within one week and the balance due within 12 months.

He is one of 39 officials and marketing executives accused of soliciting and receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in a case that has sparked an unprecedented crisis at FIFA.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter looking on with fake dollars note flying around him thrown 

by a protester during a press conference at the football's world body headquarter's on 

July 20, 2015 in Zurich (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Extradition

US prosecutors accused Callejas of receiving $1.6 million in bribes between March 2011 and January 2013 for broadcast rights of games played by the Honduran national team.

They said Florida company Media World paid these bribes from its US bank accounts through an intermediary, to overseas accounts of Callejas and a co-conspirator.

Monday's plea brings to 14 the number of individuals to have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors in the FIFA case in exchange for a possible reduction in sentence.

Callejas told the judge that he had been under treatment from a cardiologist and was currently taking medication.

Last Tuesday, Costas Takkas, the former Cayman Islands Football Federation general secretary, became the latest FIFA suspect extradited from Switzerland to appear in a New York court.

Takkas pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky and was released on a $1 million bond with a $25,000 cash deposit, court documents show.

The 57-year-old accountant, who has British and Greek citizenship, will be confined to house arrest in Florida, allowed to leave only to see his doctors, lawyers, go to court or to attend religious services.

Takkas, who was born in Cyprus, was one of six FIFA officials arrested in May 2015 in Zurich at the request of US authorities.

The US judge granted him 60 minutes of exercise a day in a gym in the building of his Florida residence.

The US corruption investigation precipitated the downfall of longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his former heir apparent, Michel Platini, who have both been banned from the sport for six years for ethics violations. 

Paraguay police search S. American football HQ

Yahoo – AFP, 7 January 2016

The Conmebol headquarters in Luque, Paraguay, is seen on January 7, 2016,
 during a raid within the framework of the FIFA corruption scandal (AFP
Photo/Norberto Duarte)

Asuncion (AFP) - Paraguayan police searched the headquarters of South American football's governing body CONMEBOL on Thursday as part of investigations into the corruption scandal rocking FIFA, state prosecutors said.

Paraguay's state prosecution service said in a statement it ordered the search on a request by the US Justice Department, which is investigating a vast bribery scandal at FIFA, football's world governing body.

Police and prosecution officials "are searching for documentation related to the granting of commercial and broadcast rights for sporting events," the statement said.

Witnesses said the current interim head of CONMEBOL, Wilmar Valdez, and the president of the Paraguayan football federation, Alejandro Dominguez, were in the building during the operation.

A lawyer for the confederation, Alfredo Montanaro, called the proceedings "irresponsible."

"It is very strange. We have been cooperating with the judicial authorities of the United States, Uruguay and Paraguay," he said on the radio.

CONMEBOL's headquarters near the Paraguayan capital Asuncion had diplomatic immunity from 1992 but that privilege was withdrawn last year after the scandal erupted.

US authorities last month indicted 16 Latin American football officials accused of accepting bribes in return for awarding contracts for tournament broadcast rights.

Paraguayan national Juan Angel Napout, the ex-president of CONMEBOL and a vice-president of FIFA, was extradited to the United States, where he pleaded not guilty.

The scandal over allegations of multimillion-dollar bribes has led to the suspension of numerous other top officials including Sepp Blatter, longtime president of FIFA.

CONMEBOL is the umbrella group for 10 South American football associations.

In 2013 it signed an allegedly graft-ridden TV rights contract with Argentine firm Datisa.

Of the 10 association presidents in office that year, just one has not been implicated in corruption by the FBI: Uruguay's Sebastian Bauza.

Related Article:

S. American confederation loses immunity in FIFA fallout

Top FIFA officials among 16 indicted in widening scandal

Yahoo – AFP, 4 Dec 2015

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks about the corruption scandal

 engulfing FIFA at the Justice Department in Washington, DC, on December 3,

2015 (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm)

Washington (AFP) - Sixteen more top football officials were charged in a dramatic widening of the FIFA corruption scandal on Thursday, as US prosecutors vowed to leave no stone unturned in their quest to root out graft.

Several senior FIFA officials from the past or present were named in a 92-count US Justice Department indictment which came after a series of dawn raids at a luxury hotel in Zurich hosting FIFA officials.

Among those indicted on Thursday were the president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Juan Angel Napout, and Alfredo Hawit, head of the North, Central American and Caribbean ruling body (CONCACAF).

Other notable officials indicted include Ricardo Teixeira, the once-powerful former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation and a former FIFA vice-president.

The indicted also included Ariel Alvarado, a Panamanian official who currently sits on FIFA's disciplinary committee.

The main players in the deepening FIFA corruption scandal (135 x 156 mm)

(AFP Photo/S.Ramis-K.Tian/P. Defosseux)

"The message from this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows, hoping to evade our investigation: You will not wait us out. You will not escape our focus," US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, describing the allegations as "outrageous" and "unconscionable."

Lynch revealed that eight more people indicted since authorities launched an earlier wave of FIFA raids and arrests in Switzerland in May had now pleaded guilty.

"I can report eight additional defendants have agreed to plead guilty for their involvement in the corruption scheme," she said.

Millions forfeited

Among those who had pleaded guilty were Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA vice president and head of CONCACAF.

Webb, who was indicted when the corruption scandal erupted earlier this year, has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering conspiracy.

As part of his plea deal, Webb has agreed to forfeit more than $6.7 million in assets.

Webb and former CONCACAF chief Jack Warner, who was indicted earlier, were also accused of siphoning off cash intended for disaster relief, according to the new indictment.

"Certain of the defendants and their co-conspirators, including the defendant Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb, took advantage of these opportunities and embezzled or otherwise personally appropriated funds provided by FIFA, including funds intended for natural disaster relief," the indictment read.

Several senior FIFA officials from the past or present were named in a

 92-count US Justice Department indictment which came after a series of dawn

 raids at a luxury hotel in Zurich hosting FIFA officials The unprecedented 

corruption scandal engulfing FIFA widened on December 3 with the arrests of

 two more top officials in another dramatic dawn raid at a luxury hotel in Zurich.

(AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

Napout and Hawit are both in Switzerland where they are now fighting extradition to the United States, officials said.

Both men are suspected of taking millions of dollars in bribes in return for selling marketing rights for regional tournaments and World Cup qualifying matches, according to the US indictment.

The investigation also covered the payment and receipt of bribes in connection with the sponsorship of the Brazilian soccer federation by a major US sportswear company, and the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 FIFA presidential election. Lynch would not confirm that the US sportswear company was Nike.

Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey meanwhile said those indicted had run corrupt schemes spanning decades.

"For decades, these defendants used their power as the leaders of soccer federations throughout the world to create a web of corruption and greed that compromises the integrity of the beautiful game," Comey said.

Lynch meanwhile dismissed claims by FIFA's suspended President Sepp Blatter that the US investigation was triggered by sour grapes over the country's failed bid for the 2022 World Cup, controversially awarded to Qatar in a 2010 vote.

"I think (Blatter) is well aware of the nature of our charges," Lynch said.

"This covers years of conduct by dozens and dozens of people from the past into the future. I called it outrageous and unconscionable. That still stands."

Brazil's Marin agrees to US extradition in FIFA corruption case

Jose Maria Marin, who led the organizing committee for World Cup 2014 in Brazil, has agreed to relocation to the US pending trial. He's wanted on racketeering charges and could face up to 20 years.

Deutsche Welle, 28 Oct 2015

Switzerland's justice ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the 83-year-old Marin "must be placed in the custody of a US police escort and taken to the USA within 10 days." The ministry did not provide further details of the handover.

Marin was among the FIFA officials arrested on May 27 in the FBI's dawn raids that were the precursor to Sepp Blatter's re-election as president, and then his announcement that he would step aside days later.

The former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, who coordinated the country's 2014 World Cup preparations, is accused of taking "bribes worth millions of dollars from sports marketing companies" in connection with four Copa America tournaments and the Copa do Brasil from 2013 through 2022. Marin agreed to extradition at a judicial hearing in Geneva on Wednesday.

Marin's World Cup dreams crumbled
with Neymar's injury, then Germany's goal
rush in the semifinal

"He is alleged to have shared these bribes with other football officials," according to the Swiss justice ministry. Marin could face up to 20 years if convicted.

Of the seven officials arrested in May at FIFA's annual conference, Marin was the last to decide whether or not to fight the US extradition order. Cayman Islands banker Jeffrey Webb agreed to cooperate in May, and pleaded not guilty in July; the remaining five all intend to challenge extradition in Swiss courts.

Marin succeeded Ricardo Teixera, himself implicated in a previous FIFA scandal concerning kickbacks on World Cup broadcasting deals, as the president of Brazil's CBF in 2012. He also took over the World Cup 2014 committee as Teixera resigned. He's one of 14 football and marketing officials indicted by US officials in one of the major investigations into FIFA currently underway. Most suspects in the FBI probe - which began with a focus purely on FIFA dealings in the US - hail from either North or South America.

At the time of his arrest, Marin was working on preparations for the football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics, to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

msh/rd (AP, Reuters)

Switzerland approves extradition to US of FIFA's Eduardo Li

Yahoo – AFP, 29 Sep 2015

The Swiss justice ministry approves the extradition to the United States of the
former head of the Costa Rican Football Federation Eduardo Li, pictured on
May 17, 2011 (AFP Photo/Rodrigo Arangua)

Geneva (AFP) - The Swiss justice ministry on Tuesday approved the extradition to the United States of Costa Rican national Eduardo Li, one the FIFA officials whose arrest in May ignited an unprecedented crisis in world football.

"The Federal Office of Justice (FoJ) has approved the extradition of Eduardo Li to the USA. The Costa-Rican citizen has 30 days in which to appeal to the Swiss Federal Criminal Court against the FOJ's ruling," a statement said.

Li, the former head of the Costa Rican Football Federation, was one of seven FIFA officials arrested in Zurich on May 27 following a US indictment on charges that he took bribes while selling football television rights.

"Li massively influenced the competitive situation and distorted the market for media rights in connection with the World Cup qualifying matches," said the FoJ statement.

"Other sports marketing companies were placed at a disadvantage. Furthermore, among other things the Costa Rican Football Federation was prevented from negotiating marketing agreements which might have been more favourable."

The FoJ said that "all of the conditions for extradition" had been fulfilled.

Swiss authorities had already approved the extradition to the US to face the same charges of others arrested in the corruption sting -- former Venezuelan Football Federation president Rafael Esquivel and Uruguayan former FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo, while the former president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation Julio Rocha agreed last month to be extradited back to his home country.

Although not among the seven arrested, FIFA president Sepp Blatter is being investigated by Swiss prosecutors over the sale of World Cup television rights and a $2 million (1.8 million euros) payment to UEFA president Michel Platini.

Two other former FIFA officials, Jack Warner and American Chuck Blazer, have been banned from all football-related activities for life for their roles in the sale of television rights at grossly deflated values.

Warner is fighting extradition to the US from his home on Trinidad and Tobago while Blazer has turned whistleblower and is assisting US authorities.

US authorities have charged 14 people in relation to more than $150 million (134.5 million euros) in bribes given for television and marketing deals.

Brazil court freezes Neymar assets worth $47 mn

Yahoo – AFP, 25 Sep 2015

Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar controls the ball during a training session
at the Olympic stadium in Rome on September 15, 2015, on the eve of the UEFA
Champions League football match between AS Roma and Barcelona (AFP
Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)

Sao Paulo (AFP) - A Brazilian court on Friday froze $47 million in assets belonging to football superstar Neymar over tax evasion allegations surrounding the Barcelona striker.

Judge Carlos Muta wrote in a ruling that Neymar -- who is facing fraud claims in a separate case in Spain -- had been subjected to a "special fine" concerning alleged unpaid taxes between 2011 and 2013.

"I confirm that a special fine of 150 percent was applied... requiring payment of 188,820,129,25 reals ($47.3 million), of which 63,591,796 relate to income tax and the rest to fines and interest, with regard to events that took place in the calendar years from 2011 to 2013," Muta wrote.

The court ruling is another bodyblow to the reputation of Neymar, the figurehead of Brazil's national team.

The 23-year-old is already battling fraud allegations in Spain stemming from the financial arrangements surrounding his move from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.

In June, Spain's National Court admitted a lawsuit alleging "corruption and swindling" by Neymar, his father and Santos.

The case has been brought by a Brazilian investment fund, DIS, which owned part of the transfer rights for the player when he was at Santos.

FIFA scandal engulfs Blatter and Platini

Yahoo – AFP, Benjamin Simon, 25 Sep 2015

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (L) shakes hands with UEFA president Michel 

Platini after being re-elected following a vote in Zurich on May 29, 2015 (AFP 

Photo/Michael Buholzer)

Zurich (AFP) - The FIFA scandal on Friday engulfed Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, the two most powerful figures in world football, with Swiss prosecutors investigating whether a two million dollar payment from Blatter to the French legend was illegal.

Swiss investigators opened criminal proceedings against FIFA president Blatter and searched his office as they also quizzed UEFA counterpart Platini.

"Swiss criminal proceedings against the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Blatter, have been opened on September 24, 2015 on suspicion of criminal mismanagement...and -– alternatively -– misappropriation," said a statement from Switzerland's attorney general's office (OAG).

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner

 arrives at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates 

court for the extradition hearing against

 him, on September 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Alva Viarruel)

Blatter, 79, is standing down because of corruption scandals involving other top officials and Platini had been favourite to win an election to be held in February to succeed him.

The Swiss prosecutor said that "the defendant Joseph Blatter" had been questioned and "the office of the FIFA President has been searched and data seized".

Blatter was questioned as "a suspect". The statement added that Platini had been questioned "as a person called upon to give information".

Platini, 60, has been head of UEFA since January 2007 which made him an automatic FIFA vice-president.

Blatter's lawyer Richard Cullen said in a statement that the FIFA boss was cooperating with Swiss authorities and that a review of the evidence would show "no mismanagement occurred".

Blatter "is suspected of making a disloyal payment of 2.0 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million/1.8 million euros) to Michel Platini, president of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), at the expense of FIFA," the OAG said.

The alleged payment was made in February 2011 "for work performed between January 1999 and June 2002."

Later Friday, Platini insisted the payment had been for "contractual" work he had carried out.

"Concerning the payment that was made to me, I wish to state that this amount relates to work which I carried out under a contract with FIFA," said the UEFA boss.

"I was pleased to have been able to clarify all matters relating to this with the authorities."

FIFA this month suspended Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke after he 

was accused of involvement in an accord to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup 

at inflated prices (AFP Photo/Sebastien Bozon)

He added: "I also made clear to the Swiss authorities that since I live in Switzerland I am available to speak with them any time to clarify any matters relating to the investigations."

Friday's dramatic turn of events came after a press conference, that Blatter was scheduled to give, was cancelled.

Platini is a former Blatter ally who turned against the veteran Swiss sports baron over the past 18 months as FIFA's troubles mounted.

The investigation is also into Blatter's links with Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice-president now at the centre of a US investigation.

The attorney general said Blatter was suspected of making a deal "unfavourable to FIFA" with the Caribbean Football Union, which Warner used as his power base.

'Properly prepared'

According to Blatter's lawyer Cullen, who is based in Virginia, that contract was "properly prepared and negotiated" by FIFA staff with responsibility for such matters.

A Trinidad court on Friday announced that it would rule on December 2 on whether Warner should be extradited to the United States.

Warner is one of 14 soccer officials and business executives charged by US prosecutors of involvement in more than $150 million in bribes for football broadcasting and marketing deals.

Nearly all of the suspects are from central and South America. Until recent days, FIFA's top leadership had escaped accusations flying around the world body, which earns $5 billion from the World Cup.

Swiss officials arrested seven FIFA officials, who are among the US suspects, on May 27 in Zurich just ahead of the world body's congress.

Blatter was re-elected to a fifth term at the congress despite the storm but then announced on June 4 that he would stand down.

Since then FIFA has announced steps to make reforms but have been shaken by new corruption claims.

A TV crew prepares to film in front of 

the FIFA logo at the FIFA headquarters

 on September 25, 2015 in Zurich (AFP

Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

FIFA this month suspended Blatter's right-hand man Jerome Valcke after he was accused of involvement in an accord to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup at inflated prices.

Valcke strongly denied the allegations but FIFA handed over emails from the suspended secretary general that had been demanded by the Swiss attorney general.

He is also under suspicion over what he knew about a $10 million payment from the South African FA to an account controlled by Warner through FIFA in 2008.

US prosecutors believe it was a bribe intended to get Caribbean support for South Africa's bid for 2010 World Cup.

Swiss prosecutors are also looking into FIFA's award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. Both have strongly denied any wrongdoing in their campaigns to secure the tournaments.

US attorney general Loretta Lynch made it clear this month that her department's inquiry was growing and more major charges could be expected.

From Blatter to Webb: Key players in the #FIFA scandal pic.twitter.com/uzwQ09Eeum

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) 25 september 2015

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Argentine exec pleads not guilty in FIFA case

Yahoo – AFP, 31 July 2015

A photograph taken from the Wanted Persons link at
the Interpol site shows Argentinian sports marketing
executive Alejandro Burzaco who has been indicted
by US authorities in the FIFA corruption scandal 
on June 9, 2015 (AFP Photo)

New York (AFP) - An Argentine sports marketing executive on Friday pleaded not guilty and posted a $20 million bond after appearing in a US court to face charges related to the FIFA corruption scandal.

Alejandro Burzaco surrendered to Italian police in June before flying to New York to face US justice in a case that has rocked world soccer.

He is one of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives accused of soliciting and receiving more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks spanning 24 years.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch unveiled the 47-count indictment in May.

Burzaco, 51, pleaded not guilty to three charges of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy and posted a $20 million bond for his release, underwritten by friends and family.

The defendant cut an elegant figure in the US federal court in Brooklyn, dressed in a dark suit, a pale blue tie and a crisp white shirt, and responded politely to the magistrate's questions.

Government prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon that Burzaco was not considered a flight risk given that he had handed himself in overseas.

Burzaco's decision to surrender has triggered speculation he may be poised to negotiate a deal with prosecutors.

His lawyer made no comment after leaving court.

The assets put up to guarantee the $20 million bond offered a breathtaking insight into the wealth that the dual Argentine-Italian citizen has accumulated, and the trust of close friends and family.

$15 million company share

They include cash deposits of $3.3 million, to be made by October 1, three properties in the United States owned by his sister and a close friend.

It also included Burzaco's 20 percent ownership of a company -- a share estimated to be worth more than $15 million.

Among the six relatives and friends underwriting his bond were a sister with an annual income of $300,000 and a net worth of more than $1 million and a friend with an estimated net worth of more than $10 million.

Burzaco's ex-wife, who was also in court, had flown from Buenos Aires to support him, his lawyer told the magistrate.

Among conditions of his release are that he live in an FBI-approved residence within 50 miles of the court.

He must surrender his passports to the FBI, submit to electronic tagging and restrict his movements to New York and Long Island.

On July 18, former FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb also pleaded not guilty in connection with the same scandal.

Arrested in Switzerland in May, he was the only one not to fight extradition.

The Cayman Islands-British citizen posted a $10 million bond and was ordered not to stray further than 20 miles of the courthouse.

US authorities reveal Chuck Blazer's cooperation deal in FIFA probe

United States prosecutors have released a plea agreement made with former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer. It shows Blazer secretly fed authorities information in a corruption probe for almost two years.

Deutsche Welle, 16 June 2015

The cooperation agreement between Blazer and the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York - which was signed in November 2013 - was made public Monday following a ruling by a federal judge.

It outlined deals between Blazer and US authorities which went back as far as December 2011 - including agreements for the soccer functionary to turn over documents to investigators, participate in undercover activities and testify at trial - in exchange for more leniencies at sentencing.

Media outlets had requested to reveal the document following the May indictment of nine current and former FIFA officials as well as five corporate executives in a US probe into corruption in world soccer's governing body.

Federal prosecutors had opposed making Blazer's agreement public, arguing it would prejudice the investigation and jeopardize the witness' safety. However, that argument was rejected by the judge, Raymond Dearie, who said prosecutors had failed to meet their "high burden" to keep the document sealed.

"The nature of Blazer's cooperation – at least to the extent expressed in his cooperation agreement – should be removed from the shadows," Dearie wrote in a ruling released Monday.

Cooperation and guilty pleas

The agreement included that Blazer would "participate in undercover activities pursuant to the specific instructions of law enforcement agents or this office."

In exchange, authorities said they would not recommend a specific sentence for his crimes and accepted what would amount to a significant reduction in jail time. Blazer secretly pleaded guilty to 10 charges including wire fraud and money laundering in November 2013. The maximum jail sentences for the counts could have added up to 100 years.

Blazer, now aged 70 and reported to be in poor health, had been a member of FIFA's executive committee from 1997 to 2013 and was general secretary of CONCACAF, soccer's governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, from 1990 to 2011.

According to US officials, his cooperation helped build a complex corruption case that has led to charges against top FIFA figures and prompted FIFA President Sepp Blatter to announce he would step down – just days after his re-election.

Handshake initiative canned

In another blow to FIFA's prestige, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo has said it's ending its cooperation with the organization in the "Handshake for Peace" initiative. Blatter had been an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign.

se/jil (AP, Reuters, AFP)

S. American confederation loses immunity in FIFA fallout

Yahoo – AFP, 11 June 2015

Paraguay's Congress voted to lift the immunity of South American football
confederation CONMEBOL's headquarters after several top executives were
indicted in the US probe into alleged massive corruption at FIFA
(AFP Photo/Norberto Duarte)

Asuncion (AFP) - Paraguay's Congress voted Thursday to lift the immunity of South American football confederation CONMEBOL's headquarters after several top executives were indicted in the US probe into alleged massive corruption at FIFA.

Under a special law, the confederation's building on the outskirts of Asuncion had enjoyed the same immunity as foreign diplomatic missions since it opened in 1997.

But the Senate voted against continuing to treat the scandal-stained football organization like a foreign government, adopting a measure already passed by the Chamber of Deputies to repeal the immunity law, just the latest fallout from the wide-ranging FIFA scandal.

"It's impossible to continue shielding corruption, protecting large-scale economic crimes and criminal corporations," said lawmaker Hugo Rubin.

The president of CONMEBOL, Paraguayan national Juan Angel Napout, had said the federation would not fight moves to lift its immunity and would cooperate with investigators.

Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga said the vote brought Paraguay in line with international law, which affords immunity only to inter-governmental missions.

"CONMEBOL is not an inter-governmental entity. I understand the president of CONMEBOL has already announced that they are in agreement with this," he said.

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who backed the legislation, is expected to sign it into law in the coming days.

Two former CONMEBOL presidents are among 14 football officials and marketing executives indicted by the United States on charges of taking and receiving more than $150 million in bribes across 24 years of corrupt activities that reached into the heart of world football's governing body.

Former CONMEBOL president Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay was among the seven people arrested last month in a raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich, as were executive committee members Rafael Esquivel of Venezuela and Jose Maria Marin of Brazil.

Another former CONMEBOL president, Nicolas Leoz, was arrested in his native Paraguay and is currently under house arrest awaiting a decision on extraditing him to the United States.

Related Article:

Switzerland targets corruption in sports with 'FIFA bill'

Argentinian FIFA suspect hands himself in

Yahoo – AFP, 9 June 2015

A member of Interpol is seen speaking with staff at the headquarters of Torneos y 

Competencias during a raid in Buenos Aires on May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Rome (AFP) - Argentinian sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco, who has been indicted by US authorities in the FIFA corruption scandal, turned himself into police in Italy on Tuesday.

Burzaco, 50, was held in Bolzano, near Italy's northern border with Switzerland after "turning up spontaneously" at a police station with his two lawyers, police said in a statement.

Burzaco was briefly detained in a cell and was then allowed to leave the police station but placed under house arrest, Italian news agency AGI reported.

The Argentinian, who also has Italian citizenship, had already rented a house near Bolzano in expectation of being placed under house arrest, reports said.

Burzaco's whereabouts had been a mystery since seven FIFA executives were arrested in the Swiss city of Zurich on May 27, the eve of a FIFA Congress.

According to reports, Burzaco was in the hotel where the executives were cuffed and promptly disappeared in the knowledge he was likely to be on the indicted list.

It is believed he was not in his hotel room at the time because he was having breakfast.

He is one of 14 current or former FIFA officials and sports marketing executives indicted over the scandal. He had been placed under an Interpol "red notice".

The 14 are accused by US prosecutors of taking part in a sweeping kickbacks scheme going back 20 years involving a total of $150 million (133 million euros) in bribes.

Members of Interpol are seen at the headquarters of Argentine sports

 broadcaster Torneos y Competencias during a raid in Buenos Aires on

May 29, 2015 (AFP Photo)

'Bribes for TV rights'

Burzaco is wanted by the US Department of Justice authorities in connection with his role as president of sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias.

The US authorities suspect him of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to win and retain the media rights contracts for football tournaments in Latin America.

The Torneos y Competencias company held the television rights for the Argentinian league between 1992-2009 and in association with Aaron Davidson, president of Traffic Sports USA who was arrested in Zurich, and another company, Full Play, hold the rights for the Copa America tournament which kicks off in Chile next month.

The whereabouts of Full Play owners, Argentinian father and son Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, are unknown.

The revelations have thrown the world of football into turmoil and led to the resignation of long-serving FIFA president Sepp Blatter last week, just four days after his re-election for a fifth successive term.

USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup-winning striker for West Germany in 1990, said Tuesday he expects there to be more revelations in the scandal.

"If there is one thing I know for sure, when the American authorities have evidence, then they see things through and more things will come out," Klinsmann said in Cologne ahead of a friendly match against Germany.

"The whole world is wishing that FIFA will be cleaned up and those who comply will do things differently in the long term."

Businessman Burzaco, wanted over FIFA scandal, surrenders

Related Article:

Businessman Burzaco, wanted over FIFA scandal, surrenders