Unidentified FIFA official seeks bail in Zürich

Jeff Webb at CONCACAF’s 30th Ordinary Congress

(CNS): One of the seven men being held by Swiss authorities awaiting extradition to the United States as part of the $150 million FIFA bribery and corruption probe has made a formal appeal against the extradition and wants bail. The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) in Switzerland issued a release Wednesday stating that one of the football officials, who has not been identified, has lodged an appeal with the Federal Criminal Court there against the extradition warrant issued by the FOJ.

While Cayman’s Jeffrey Webb, the former CONCACAF president, is one of the seven men held in Zürich, all of whom are who understood to be fighting the extradition, there is no indication that this first formal appeal against extradition and for bail has come from Webb.

Speaking about the process regarding this request, the FOJ said, “The Federal Criminal Court will rule on whether or not he will have to remain in custody for the entire length of the extradition proceeding. Both the detainee and the Federal Office of Justice may appeal against the Federal Criminal Court decision before the Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne.”

Webb and six other football officials were arrested in Zürich last month on the orders of the FOJ and detained pending their extradition. They were rounded up in an early morning raid at the luxury hotel where the men were staying for the annual FIFA congress.

Two of the officials are in their 80’s and not in great health. Eugenio Figueredo, FIFA vice president and CONMEBOL president from Uruguay, and the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), José Maria Marin, are both 83 years old. The men have reportedly already raised their concerns about not being well enough to remain in jail.

Although it is not clear exactly where the seven men are being held, it is understood that they remain in their cells 23 hours of the day and are allowed only to see their lawyers and close family members.