The Swiss justice ministry just put out a press release and, for anyone not already on their mailing list, it basically amounted to: ‘we have got the fuckers!’
You may remember the shady business practices of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association from this LAST WEEK TONIGHT with John Oliver segment:
Turns out, 
After US authorities requested the arrest of six soccer officials in Zurich – it is suspected they accepted bribes amounting to more than USD 100 million – a gentle raid of the luxe hotel they were staying at was subsequently carried out. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice will now detain the FIFA delegates and eventually extradite the fuck out of them.
The corruption being looked into allegedly spans the last two decades and:
“In return, it is believed that they received media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America. According to the US request, these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks.”
The FIFA officials were sitting ducks in Zurich for their presidential election – with said elections always held the year after a FIFA World Cup – in which current FIFA President Sepp Blatter was up against one of the eight current vice-presidents Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (of Jordan).
Sepp can be seen below, pictured only last week; doves are, of course, known as the symbol of innocence ^___^
Picture by Abbas Momani for Getty.
The 6am raid, wherein the officers obtained keys from the front desk and busted in on them while they least suspected it, is said to have resulted in the arrest of two of the other vice-presidents, Jeffrey Webb and Eugenio Figueredo, along with Eduardo Li, Jack Warner, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin and Nicolás Leoz.
The Sheet Of Shame:
FIFA officials were escorted out behind sheets at the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich http://t.co/LCuxIyugth pic.twitter.com/1M8SuQMSUu
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 27, 2015
The Times report that an unnamed law enforcement official said of the operation:
“We’re struck by just how long this went on for and how it touched nearly every part of what FIFA did,” said a law enforcement official. “It just seemed to permeate every element of the federation and was just their way of doing business. It seems like this corruption was institutionalized.”
FIFA, between brow sweats, have just announced:
Be sure to tune in! Meanwhile, the list of people indicted is expected to grow.
*FACEPALM* @FIFA.com
via Federal Office of Justice + New York Times.
Title image by Harold Cunningham via Getty.
