From Caribbean News Now

BERNE, Switzerland — Caymanian Jeffrey Webb, the erstwhile president of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), is reportedly one of six soccer officials arrested on Wednesday in Zurich on racketeering, corruption and money laundering charges that are contesting their extradition to the US.

Following his indictment and arrest on Wednesday, the regional football body dismissed Webb as president and appointed senior vice president Alfredo Hawit in his place. Eduardo Li, an executive member of CONCACAF and Costa Rica’s football chief, has also been sacked.

“While we are profoundly disappointed by the allegations made by authorities that again, CONCACAF has been the victim of fraud, we remain committed to CONCACAF’s goal to develop, promote and manage the game of soccer,” Hawit said.

“We have now taken the appropriate steps to maintain our operations and continue to deliver on our commitments to all of our constituents, including our fans, members, as well as commercial and broadcast partners. We also continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation by governmental authorities, which have not placed any restrictions on our ongoing activities,” he added.

The confederation said Webb and Li were “provisionally dismissed” in accordance with the statutes.

The executive committee also placed general secretary Enrique Sanz on a leave of absence to begin immediately.

Meanwhile, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), at the initial hearing, a seventh person arrested indicated that he was willing to pursue simplified extradition. If such simplified extradition is approved, the person concerned may be handed over to the US authorities immediately.

For those individuals who are contesting extradition, the FOJ will now ask the US to submit formal extradition requests within the 40-day period provided for in the bilateral extradition treaty. Extradition proceedings will be resumed as soon as these requests have been received. These six individuals still have time, up to the ruling (of first instance) of the FOJ, to agree to simplified extradition proceedings.

The FOJ is supporting an investigation against soccer functionaries and bribery suspects in the context of international mutual legal assistance. The US authorities suspect them of having received or paid bribes totaling millions of dollars in the context of awarding media, marketing and sponsoring rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America.

Further to three US requests for legal assistance, the FOJ has also ordered the blocking of accounts at several banks in Switzerland through which bribes are claimed to have flowed as well as the seizure of related bank documents.

Proceedings are also under way on two separate fronts regarding alleged irregularities in connection with soccer tournaments:

First, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is conducting a criminal investigation into the awarding of media, marketing and sponsorship rights for soccer tournaments in the United States and Latin America. The FOJ is supporting this investigation in the context of international mutual legal assistance and will decide on any extradition and legal assistance requests.

Secondly, the Office of the Attorney General is conducting a criminal investigation into the selection of Russia as the host country for the 2018 World Cup and Qatar as the host country for 2022.

IMAGE: Jeffrey Webb (C) of the Cayman Islands was reelected unopposed as president of CONCACAF in April. At left is Sepp Blatter, who was controversially reelected FIFA president on Friday. At right is CONCACAF general secretary Enrique Sanz, who has been placed on immediate leave of absence

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Cayman-Islands-football-chief-to-contest-extradition-to-US-to-face-corruption-charges-26325.html