'Paraguay ex-FIFA official to plead innocent once informed of charges'

A Paraguayan ex-FIFA official and former president of the South American football confederation (CONMEBOL) is still unaware of the charges supporting the United States Justice Department's request for his arrest and extradition. However, his attorney said that he will plead innocent once he is notified.

Nicolas Leoz "has stated that he rejects the accusations of corruption. He will surely emphatically deny them when he is aware of the specific charge," attorney Raul Barriocanal said on Thursday, reports Efe.

The Justice Department on Wednesday said Leoz and 13 others, including two current FIFA vice-presidents, were being charged with "racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offences, in connection with the defendants' participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international football".

Leoz, 86, was president of CONMEBOL for 26 years and also is a former FIFA executive committee member. The Paraguayan, who was earlier investigated by FIFA over allegations that he received a bribe in exchange for his support for Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, was hospitalised after the Justice Department's announcement that a 47-count indictment had been unsealed on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

Leoz has been receiving treatment at a clinic in Asuncion after being named as one of the 14 defendants: nine current or former FIFA officials, four sports marketing executives and one other individual who allegedly served as a liaison for illegal payments. Seven of the defendants were arrested on Wednesday by Swiss authorities.

Leoz has had four heart operations, has not recently left the Paraguayan capital on doctor's orders and also is prohibited from flying in airplanes, Barriocanal said.

One of his other attorneys, Ricardo Preda, told said that Paraguay by law does not incarcerate people over the age of 70, although alternative measures such as house arrest are a possibility. A request for Leoz's arrest for purposes of extradition has been received.

"Most of the schemes alleged in the indictment relate to the solicitation and receipt of bribes and kickbacks by football officials from sports marketing executives in connection with the commercialisation of the media and marketing rights associated with various football matches and tournaments," the Justice Department said.

In explaining why the US Justice Department was prosecuting leaders of FIFA, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the defendants and their co-conspirators partially planned their scheme in the US, used the US banking system to pay bribes and "planned to profit from their scheme in large part through promotional efforts directed at the growing US market for football".