FIFA imposes 90-day ban on arrested vice presidents

GENEVA

FIFA vice presidents Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit have been suspended from all football activities for 90 days after they were arrested in Switzerland a day earlier on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and corruption.

In a statement released Friday, FIFA said that the adjudicatory chamber of the independent ethics committee of the sport's governing body had banned the two vice presidents, including the president of the South American Football Confederation, Juan Angel Napout, and the president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and of the Honduran Football Association, Alfredo Hawit, from all football-related activities for 90 days.

"The reason for the ban... is the indictment issued yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice for charges of racketeering, conspiracy and corruption," FIFA said.

The two high-ranking officials, suspected of accepting millions of dollars in bribes, were arrested at the request of U.S. authorities in Zurich on Thursday.

According to Swiss authorities, Hawit and Napout are alleged to have taken kickbacks in return for marketing rights to football tournaments in Latin America and World Cup qualifying matches. The money is said to have been processed through banks in the U.S.

Speaking in Washington later Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the arrests of the football confederation presidents are part of a larger 92-count indictment against 16 new defendants, all of whom are sitting or former football officials.

The U.S. is working to extradite Hawit and Napout as it seeks to bring the remaining defendants into custody, Lynch said.

In May, police swooped in on Baur au Lac hotel, the same luxury hotel that was the site of Thursday’s arrests in Switzerland, to arrest members of football’s world governing body in a corruption investigation that has rocked the sport.

Arrests included Jeffrey Webb and Jose Maria Marin - who have since been transferred to the U.S.

Five others are fighting extradition and their appeals against the Justice Ministry’s orders are ongoing.

Those arrests came as U.S. officials announced charges against a total of 18 individuals in an investigation into more than 20 years of corruption in which football executives allegedly rigged World Cup bids and took bribes in exchange for highly valuable marketing and broadcast contracts.

Eight defendants have agreed to plead guilty, according to Lynch, who said five were not named in the original indictment.

Throughout the investigation, 41 individuals and entities have been charged with crimes, according to the Justice Department. Of those, 12 individuals and two sports companies have been convicted.

FIFA’s suspended President Sepp Blatter is also under investigation by Swiss authorities in a separate inquiry.