Fifa official extradited to the United States

One of the seven Fifa officials arrested in Zurich as part of a corruption probe has been extradited to the United States.

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice says the unnamed official, whom it did not identify, was extradited on Wednesday.

Officials said in a statement that he was handed over to three US police officers who accompanied him on the flight to New York.

The official agreed last week to be extradited, unlike six others who are contesting the extradition.

The extradited man is accused of “accepting bribes totalling millions of dollars in connection with the sale of marketing rights to various sports marketing firms and keeping the money for himself,” the Swiss justice office said last week.

All seven men were arrested on May 27th in dawn raids on a luxury hotel in Zurich by Swiss federal police at the request of American federal agencies.

They include Fifa vice president Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands and former Fifa vice president Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay. Both have been suspended from football duty by Fifa's ethics committee.

A total of 14 men — nine football officials and five marketing executives — were indicted by the US Department of Justice in May, and a further four had their guilty pleas unsealed.

They are alleged to have taken part in a racketeering conspiracy paying bribes of more than $150 million over a 24-year period.

The payments were tied to the award of broadcast and hosting rights for the World Cup, continental championships in North and South America, and regional club tournaments.

US authorities have said more indictments should follow, and Fifa President Sepp Blatter is a target of the widening case.

Under pressure from the investigation, and a separate Swiss federal probe of money laundering linked to Fifa’s award of 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting rights, Mr Blatter announced on June 2nd that he would leave office within months.