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FIFA presidential election to go ahead

FIFA, the governing body for world football, has confirmed that its presidential election will take place on Friday, despite the arrest of seven FIFA officials on charges they received millions of U.S.dollars in bribes. 

Caymanian Jeffrey Webb, FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF head, was among those arrested.
    
Trinidadian Austin "Jack" Warner, himself a former Concacaf president and FIFA Vice President, is among those charged but was not in Zurich, and so has not been arrested. Warner, in the meantime, has issued a statement from his home base, once again asserting his innocence. The United States has since confirmed they have requested the Trinidadian authorities to extradite Warner to the U.S.A. to face trial. 

The New York Times has reported all the other arrested officials are to be extradited to the united states. 
    
A separate criminal investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals  were allocated has also begun. 
   
FIFA President Sepp Blatter faces Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein in Friday's election as he seeks a fifth term. 
    
Blatter was not among those arrested and is reportedly not involved in the allegations at this time, according to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
   
The seven FIFA officials were arrested after the US Department of Justice issued a 47-count indictment, charging 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies in a 24-year scheme. The scheme substantially involved corruption over media and marketing rights to matches and tournaments.
    
Those arrested in a dawn raid at the prestigious Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich were Webb, Costan Rican F.A President Eduardo Li, FIFA Development Officer Julio Rocha, current attache to Webb Costas Takkas, a FIFA  
Vice President Eugenio Figueredo, Venezuelan FA President Rafael Esquivel, and Jose Maria Marin, a member of FIFA's organizing committee for Olympic football.
    
Jamaica Football Federation President Captain Horace Burrell and General Secretary Raymond Grant are in Switzerland for the FIFA Congress.
 
The US Justice Department said this is "just the beginning" of their work, and that the arrested officials were part of a "world cup of fraud" and that the US Justice Department has "issued a red card to FIFA."
 
The investigations by the USA's IRS criminal investigation unit started when they were investigating American Chuck Blazer, the former CONCACAF general secretary, for tax evasion. He turned on the FIFA officials in 2013 and wore a wire tap to help indict the officials and help break the web of FIFA's corruption. 


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