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FIFA Corruption Probe: Switzerland Extradites Former VP Jeffrey Webb to U.S.

One of the seven FIFA officials arrested in Zurich as part of a corruption probe has been extradited to the United States
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Former FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb has been extradited to the United States following his arrest in Switzerland on racketeering and bribery charges filed by American prosecutors.

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said Thursday the man was extradited a day earlier after 50 days of detention.

"He was handed over to a three-man U.S. police escort in Zurich who accompanied him on the flight to New York," the ministry said in a statement.

Two people familiar with the case identified the defendant as Webb and confirmed he has been brought to the United States. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, declined to disclose his exact location.

Webb, who is from the Cayman Islands, was president of the CONCACAF, soccer's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, and a FIFA vice president at the time of his arrest.

Webb agreed last week to be extradited, unlike six others who are fighting extradition.

All seven men were arrested on May 27 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 Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, who like Webb was suspended from soccer activity by FIFA's ethics committee.

The others are Jose Maria Marin, who led Brazil's 2014 World Cup local organizing committee; Eduardo Li, an elected member of FIFA's executive committee and president of Costa Rica's soccer federation; FIFA staffer Julio Rocha, a development officer from Nicaragua; Venezuela federation president Rafael Esquivel; and Costas Takkas, a Briton who works for Webb.

A total of 14 men — nine football officials and five marketing executives — were indicted by the U.S. 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.