As members of FIFA's executive committee prepared to vote on reforming football's scandal-plagued governing body, Swiss government agents swept into a luxury hotel before dawn for a second wave of arrests on corruption charges in wake of another sweeping indictment by US prosecutors.
Five current and former members of FIFA's ruling executive committee were among 16 additional men charged with bribes and kickbacks in 92-count indictment unsealed on Thursday that took down an entire generation of football leaders in South America.
"The betrayal of trust set forth here is truly outrageous," US Attorney General loretta lynch said. "The scale of corruption alleged herein is unconscionable."
led away by Swiss federal police at Zurich's Baur au lac hotel were Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay, president of the South American confederation (CONMEBOl), and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, head of the North and Central American and Caribbean governing body (CONCACAF).
Rafael Callejas, Honduras' president from 1990-94 and a current member of FIFA's television and marketing committee, was indicted, as was Hector Trujillo, a judge on Guatemala's Constitutional Court.
Also among those charged was Ricardo Teixeira, the president of Brazilian football from 1994-2012. In addition, guilty pleas were unsealed for former CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb and former executive committee member luis Bedoya.
The 236-page superseding indictment was handed up by a grand jury in New York on Nov. 25.
Eleven current and former members of FIFA's executive committee have been charged in the investigation, which alleges hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payments over the past quarter-century that involved the use of US banks and meetings on American soil.
Fourteen men were charged in May, when four additional guilty pleas were unsealed, with prosecutors alleging bribes involving the media and marketing rights for the Copa America, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, World Cup qualifiers and other competitions. Eight more guilty pleas were unsealed Thursday, including three by men indicted in May: Webb, marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco and Jose Margulies, described by prosecutors as an intermediary. Also pleading guilty were former Colombian federation president luis Bedoya and former Chilean federation president Sergio Jadue.
Among those charged were Marco Polo del Nero, a Brazilian who served on the executive committee from 2012 until last week; Rafael Salguero, a Guatemalan who left the executive committee in May; former South American confederation secretary general Eduardo Deluca; former Peru football federation president Manuel Burga; and current Bolivian football president Carlos Chaves, already jailed in his own country for embezzlement.
Napout, Hawit banned
Zurich: FIFA vice presidents Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit have been banned from football after being indicted on bribery and racketeering charges.
The FIFA ethics committee says judge Joachim Eckert applied the provisional bans, which were requested by ethics prosecutor Cornel Borbely.
Meanwhile, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, who are facing life bans for corruption, are expected to go before the FIFA ethics committee within two weeks.
A person familiar with the cases tells that the hearings should take place from Dec. 16-18 in Zurich. Verdicts are expected within days. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not been made public. Blatter and Platini face separate hearings before the ethics court led by German judge Joachim Eckert.