Seven FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges

Seven serving FIFA officials including the current CONCACAF president were arrested in Switzerland on U.S. corruption charges and face extradition.

Swiss police arrested the seven, all from the Latin American and Caribbean region,  during a dawn raid at a five-star Zurich hotel in connection with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies involving up to $150 million.

The officials have been detained pending extradition proceedings to the United States, which could take years if they contest the process. 

A FIFA spokesman says that president Sepp Blatter was not among those arrested but vice-presidents Jeffrey Webb - the current CONCACAF president - and Eugenio Figueredo from Uruguay have been arrested, along with Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel and Jose Maria Marin.

U.S. prosecutors said they are looking to probe further into the sporting body and make more arrests but would not say whether FIFA President Sepp Blatter was a target. Blatter, 79, is standing for re-election to a fifth term at the FIFA Congress in Zurich on Friday, and FIFA said the vote would go ahead as planned.

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