The dawn detention of several FIFA leaders and a corruption raid on its headquarters today rocked world football's governing body two days before its leader Sepp Blatter seeks a new term.
A FIFA vice-president was among seven people arrested at the luxury Zurich hotel where they were preparing for a congress starting tomorrow. All now face deportation to the United States on charges of accepting more than USD 100 million in bribes.
US authoities said nine football officials are among 14 people facing charges over the longstanding corruption.
Separately, Swiss police seized files and emails at the FIFA headquarters as part of an investigation into the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.
The 2010 vote by FIFA that attributed the events has been surrounded by widespread allegations of fraud. A spokesman said today though that there was no question of changing the venues.
FIFA spokesman Walter de Gregorio said Blatter is not involved in the investigations and that the presidential vote would be held as planned on Friday.
"The timing is not great," de Gregorio told reporters. But he added that "FIFA welcomes actions that can help contribute to rooting out any wrongdoing in football."
- Blatter relaxed -
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Blatter has been overwhelming favourite to win a fifth term at the head of the multi-billion dollar body. But the events could swing many votes.
His only challenger, Prince Ali bin al Hussein, a FIFA vice president from Jordan, called the arrests "a sad day for football."
Prince Ali and European federation chiefs say a change of leadership is now urgently needed to save FIFA's tainted image.
The FIFA spokesman said Blatter was "relaxed" about the future fallout from the investigation.
"He isn't dancing in his office," de Gregoria told reporters. "He is very, very calm, he sees what happens. He is fully cooperative with everybody."
Swiss police gave a surprise 6:00am wake up call to FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, from the Cayman Islands, and other six officials at the luxury Baur au Lac hotel. A US Department of Justice statement said seven people were detained.
