
The U.S. Justice Department plans to announce corruption charges against senior officials at FIFA, the world's soccer governing body, law enforcement officials say.
Up to 14 people are expected to be charged Wednesday in an indictment in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. FIFA has been at the center of corruption investigations for years. The U.S. Probe accelerated after former U.S. Prosecutor, Michael Garcia, who was hired by FIFA to do an internal investigation distanced himself from FIFA's claims of finding no corruption. Ref. CNN
Soccer officials charged in a corruption investigation "Engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games, where the games would be held and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide," U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
Lynch said FIFA executives and others used bribes to influence where the 2010 World Cup would be held; that tournament was held in South Africa. She also alleged $110 million in bribes related to the Copa America tournament to be held in the United States in 2016.
"The next step in the process is extradition," She said. Ref. CNN