US asks for extradition of 7 FIFA officials

Baku. 2 July. REPORT.AZ/ The US says it has sent extradition requests to Switzerland, for seven FIFA officials, who were arrested in May, on suspicion of corruption, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice has said. The officials are currently in jail around the Zurich region, Report informs citing foreign media.

Local police in Zurich will now give the seven officials a hearing concerning the extradition requests, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) has said. The organization says that the officials or their lawyers will have 14 days to respond to the charges.

The charges relate to a dawn raid carried out on May 27 at a hotel in Zurich, two days before FIFA’s executive committee was due to meet to hold elections to choose a new president for world football’s governing body.

The FOJ said it would give its ruling in a few weeks, but has mentioned that any decision could be challenged in both the federal criminal court and the federal supreme court.

The extradition requests are in response to a US probe into alleged bribery and corruption worth more than $100 million and are alleged to involve high-ranking FIFA officials.

The seven, who are being held in separate detention facilities around Zurich, in order to avoid collusion, are all from Latin America and the Caribbean region.