(ATR) FIFA was plunged into further crisis Thursday when the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a 92-count indictment, charging 16 more football officials with corruption.
The offences range from racketeering and wire fraud to money laundering conspiracies.
The latest charges against FIFA officials highlight 24 years of corruption schemes involving leaders of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL and nine heads of football associations in Central and South America as well as sports marketing companies throughout the Americas.
The new defendants include five current or Former FIFA Executive Committee members - notably Marco Polo del Nero and Ricardo Teixeira, the current and former presidents of the Brazilian soccer federation - and the current presidents of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, Alfredo Hawit and Juan Ángel Napout.
Hawit and Napout were arrested earlier Thursday in a dawn raid on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, prior to a FIFA executive committee meeting.
Eight others including Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA vice president, have filed guilty pleas, US authorities announced. He pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud conspiracy and three counts of money laundering conspiracy. As part of his plea, Webb agreed to forfeit more than $6.7 million.
The new indictment follows one in May that triggered FIFA's crisis, and also includes additional charges for seven of the defendants still pending extradition.
This development in the FIFA investigation brings the total number of people charged in the case to 41, 14 of whom have already been convicted for corruption.The US Department of Justice said in its statement that the indicted and convicted defendants face maximum jail terms of 20 years.
They were announced by US Attorney General Loretta Lynch along with FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS) officials.
The 27 defendants in the so-called "superseding indictment" are alleged to have engaged in a number of schemes designed to solicit and receive over $200 million in bribes and kickbacks to sell lucrative media and marketing rights to international football tournaments and matches, among other valuable rights and properties.
Lynch said the"betrayal of trust set forth is truly outrageous" and the "scale of corruption unconscionable".
Lynch stressed that the investigation into corruption of world football is ongoing, sending a clear message to officials that are yet to be named in the investigation."You will not wait us out and you will not escape our focus," Lynch said.
Quizzed about suspended Sepp Blatter, Lynch said the investigation continues and "has many focuses & many, many individuals".
IRS official Richard Weber described the ongoing probe into FIFA corruption as the "most complex worldwide financial investigation every conducted".
Attorney Robert Capers expanded on details of the indictment during a press conference, explaining how the last three presidents of both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL participated in bribery and kickback schemes in exchange for lucrative marketing rights.
Capers said the Justice Department is "progressing in [their] efforts to root out what amounts to decades of corruption."
"For those that are still corrupt, we say to you enough is enough. Now is not the time to hold power or seek to gain power. Now is the time to step away to give way to a new generation of leadership that brings this beautiful game the leadership it deserves," said Capers.
Written by KevinNutley and Mark Bisson
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