fifa
A staff walks past a logo of soccer's international governing body FIFA at their headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, May 27, 2015 Reuters/Ruben Sprich

Seven senior FIFA officials were arrested after being charged with corruption and vast racketeering. ABC News reported that the charges were made by the Department of Justice. In total, 14 individuals, including nine former and current people in FIFA and five individuals involved in sports marketing, were accused.

An investigation was conducted after allegations surfaced that officials were being bribed to decide the next location of the biggest international event in sports – the World Cup. The games were slated to be played in Russia in 2018 and in Qatar in 2022. The corruption was said to date back as far as 1991 and involved as much as $150 million in bribe money and kickbacks. One official is even been suspected of receiving over $10 million in bribes in a span of almost two decades.

“This organization has been lawless, doing whatever they want for years. This is the way they do business. Selecting Qatar [to host the 2022 World Cup] was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Christopher Fusco, a former prosecutor and sports analyst.

“In short, these individuals, through these organizations, engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games, where the games would be held and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide,” said U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Yahoo reported that the arrests were made during a raid at dawn at a luxurious hotel in Zurich. US prosecutors stated that they intend to arrest more people. There was no confirmation yet whether FIFA President Sepp Blatter was involved in the scandal. Blatter is set for re-election for the fourth time at the FIFA Congress in Switzerland on May 29, 2015. According to FIFA, the vote will continue as initially planned. Blatter denied involvement in the FIFA corruption.

"Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game,” Blatter said.

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