The FIFA scandal explained
Present or former FIFA officials (L to R, from upper row) Rafael Esquivel, Julio Rocha, Jeffrey Webb, Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo and Jose Maria Marin. The US Justice Department announced on May 27, 2015 charges against nine present or former FIFA officials as part of a major investigation into corruption at the core of football's world governing body. Seven were arrested in Zurich, Switzerland. (AFP PHOTO)
Swiss authorities stormed into FIFA's annual meeting on Wednesday morning to arrest several of the world's top soccer officials and ship them off to the U.S. to face federal corruption charges.
Plainclothes cops stormed the elegant, five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich and arrested the rich and powerful men who head up soccer's global governing body.
To FIFA followers, this was a long time coming. The hugely powerful, billion-dollar, tax-exempt global conglomerate is no stranger to controversy, having long been plagued by allegations of bribery, corruption and abuse.
WHO IS IN TROUBLE?
Charged are executive committee member-elect Eduardo Li, CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, vice-president Eugenio Figueredo, former vice-president Jack Warner, development officer Julio Rocha, attache to the CONCACAF president Costas Takkas, Venezuelan soccer federation president Rafael Esquivel, organizing committee member Jose Maria Marin and former executive committee member Nicolas Leoz.
Four other top-dogs have already pleaded guilty, and their testimonies are key to the case against the 14 accused. They are Daryll Warner, Daryan Warner, Charles Blazer and Jose Hawilla.
One man who walked away from the crackdown unscathed is FIFA president Sepp Blatter, whom the New York Times calls "the most powerful person in sports." A FIFA spokesman insisted during a news conference that Blatter is not involved in any wrongdoing.
WHAT ARE THEY ACCUSED OF?
The 14 defendants are accused of 47 counts of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering and conspiracy-related charges.
"The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said.
"It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks."
All together, they are accused of conspiring to solicit and receive more than $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for their official support of sports marketing executives.
Most of the crimes are alleged to have happened in FIFA's CONCACAF region â the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football â which includes America as a member country.
CAN THE AMERICANS DO THIS?
U.S. Justice Department laws gives the country wide authority to bring cases against foreign nationals living abroad if their alleged crimes have even the slightest U.S. connection. Traditionally, this has been used in terrorism cases.
WHAT DOES FIFA SAY?
"FIFA welcomes actions that can help contribute to rooting out any wrongdoing in football," the organization said in a statement.
FIFA'S SCANDAL-RIDDEN HISTORY
Whistleblowers have publicly accused FIFA officials of illegal bribery and kickbacks before, including Paraguay's Nicolas Leoz, who is alleged to have demanded a knighthood to exchange for voting for England's 2018 World Cup bid.
One of the accused, Jack Warner, who once headed FIFA's scandal-plagued CONCACAF region, stepped down in 2011 amid allegations he attempted to buy the votes of Caribbean federation officials in the 2011 FIFA presidential election.
He's just one of several FIFA members to quit, thereby cutting short any internal investigations against them.
Even Amnesty International has spoken out against FIFA, accusing the group of abusing migrant labourers in preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.