FIFA said Wednesday that Sepp
Blatter would not be stepping down as president after
international soccer's governing body was rocked by the arrest
of seven senior officials in Zurich.
The US Justice Department said two FIFA vice-presidents
were among those arrested pending extradition to the United
States in relation to a FBI investigation into corruption -
North and Central America and Caribbean Confederation President
Jeffrey Webb and Uruguay's Eugenio Figueredo, the president of
South American governing body Conmebol.
The other five, who were detained at a Zurich hotel in a
dawn raid, are Costa Rica's Eduardo Li, Brazil's Jose Maria
Marin, Nicaragua's Julio Rocha, Venezuela's Rafael Esquivel and
Costas Takkas, an UK national who is an attache to the CONCACAF
president.
They are among 14 indicted on graft charges in relation to
alleged involvement on bribes of around $100 million over two
decades.
Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has also been
indicted.
Swiss prosecutors, meanwhile, announced that they have
launched a separate investigation into the bidding process for
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were assigned to Russia and
Qatar respectively.
FIFA's Zurich headquarters were also raided on Wednesday,
with electronic data and documents seized.
Nevertheless, a FIFA spokesperson told reporters that
Blatter will not step down as he is not personally implicated
and insisted that the 2018 and 2022 will go ahead as planned.
FIFA also said that the election for FIFA chief will go
ahead on schedule on Friday, with Blatter seeking a fifth term.
Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan - Blatter's rival for
the presidency - described the arrests as "a sad day for
football".
Swiss Blatter has been at the helm of FIFA since 1998 and
had managed to hang on to his position despite repeated reports
of corruption with this organisation, especially regarding the
way the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded.
"UEFA is surprised and saddened by this morning's events
in Zurich and it is waiting for more detailed information," said
Giancarlo Abete, the vice-president of European football's
governing body and former head of the Italian Soccer Federation
(FIGC).
The lead US investigators said the arrests were "just the
start" of the probe.
"No one is above the law," said FBI chief James Comey.
"It doesn't end here," said the head of the criminal
section of the Internal Revenue Service, Richard Weber.
Blatter is "not currently under investigation", US
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
She said the US had requested the extradition of nine
FIFA officials on charges of corruption and conspiracy.
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