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Fifa officials including vice president Jeffrey Webb arrested

Six Fifa officials, including vice president Jeffrey Webb, have been arrested in dawn raids at a Zurich hotel ahead of Friday’s presidential election.

The members of the world governing body were held by Swiss police at the US Department of Justice’s request.

Charges are said  to include money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud over the last 20 years.

The FBI and the US Department of Justice is to hold a news conference.

The Swiss authorities began their operation to arrest and extradite the Fifa officials to the US early on Wednesday.

Webb, who is also Fifa’s head of the confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean, is one of those held, according to the BBC’s Richard Conway in Zurich.

Members of Swiss law enforcement are still present in the hotel but the main activity and arrests now seem to be over, he said.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke briefly visited the hotel this morning but declined to comment.

Current Fifa president Sepp Blatter is to go head-to-head against Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan in Friday’s election.

Prince Ali and his advisors will meet on Wednesday morning to discuss the impact of the arrests on the election.

The New York Times reports that plain-clothed police officers took the room keys from the reception of Baur au Lac hotel, where the officials were staying, and headed upstairs to the guest room.

Source: ritesports/ritefmonline.org

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