The United States has demanded the extradition of seven FIFA officials detained in May setting off what could become a prolonged legal battle over the handling of the major corruption case.
Swiss authorities said on Thursday that the US embassy in Bern had sent an extradition request the day before.
The seven were detained in a dawn raid on a Zurich hotel on May 27 as a FIFA congress was about to start. FIFA leader Sepp Blatter was re-elected to a new term at the congress but amid a storm of controversy over parallel US and Swiss investigations, he announced four days later that he would stand down.
Blatter has not been accused by either inquiry and again strongly denied involvement in corruption in a German media interview released on Wednesday.
The US legal authorities had until July 3 to make their request and a Swiss federal justice office statement said the embassy action was “within the timeframe set down in the bilateral extradition treaty” between the two countries.
The seven officials — all from South and North America — have all indicated they will fight extradition. The seven held include Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands and Eugenio Figueredo from Uruguay.
There was also Brazilian football federation chief Jose Maria Marin, Nicaraguan Julio Rocha and Costas Takkas, a Briton who worked for the Cayman islands federation and Rafael Esquivel, president of the Venezuelan Football Federation.
Prolonged battle
All are accused by US authorities of involvement in more than $150 million of bribes given for marketing deals for football tournaments in North and South America.
The seven are among 14 people — officials and sports marketing company executives — that US authorities have charged. Zurich police will now question the seven officials again and they will have 14 days to respond to the extradition request, the federal justice office said.
Experts said the battle over their extradition could take more than a year with hearings running alongside the election for a new FIFA president. FIFA declined to comment on the extradition request. “This is a matter for the relevant authorities,” said a spokesperson.
Blatter said on June 2 that a new presidential election would be held and he would hand over to a successor. Indications that he could stand again have been strongly opposed by other FIFA leaders. The FIFA executive is to meet in Zurich on July 20 to decide a date for the election, expected between this Dec and March 2016.
The accusations against FIFA are unlikely to ease in the coming months.