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Jack Warner

NEW YORK. — Officials from football’s world governing body FIFA took bribes totalling hundreds of millions of dollars over more than 20 years to allocate tournaments and rig elections, US law enforcement officials said yesterday.

Prosecutors said they had discovered a dozen schemes, including one awarding the 2010 World Cup to South Africa.

Corrupt officials at world soccer’s governing body FIFA took bribes during the process that awarded the 2010 World Cup to South Africa, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch alleged yesterday.

One of those indicted, former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, took $10 million in bribes from the South African government over the 2010 World Cup, the indictment alleged.

“Around 2004, bidding began for the opportunity to host the 2010 World Cup, which was ultimately awarded to South Africa, the first time the tournament would be held on the African continent,” she told a news conference.

“But even for this historic event, FIFA executives and others corrupted the process by using bribes to influence the hosting decision.”

Lynch would not comment on the upcoming 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which are to be held in Russia and Qatar, but said that Swiss authorities are conducting a separate investigation into how these tournaments were awarded.

The South African Football Association refused to comment on the US investigation.

“Those are just allegations. No one is being investigated here,” spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said yesterday.

When details of the indictment first emerged, Warner said he was innocent and said “the actions of FIFA no longer concern me”.

Fourteen people are under indictment.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is not among them.

FIFA intends to go ahead with a planned election tomorrow.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch was giving details of the US investigation into football’s governing body.

Seven of the 14 sports officials were arrested in Switzerland yesterday morning.

They are accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150 million over a 24-year period.

“This really is the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing FIFA a red card,” said Richard Weber, from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

FIFA executives “used their positions to solicit bribes,” said Lynch.

“They did this over and over, year after year, tournament after tournament.”

“They corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves.”

The Swiss have also opened a separate investigation into the bidding process for the World Cup tournaments in 2018 in Russia and 2022 in Qatar.

Swiss police said they would question 10 FIFA executive committee members who participated in the votes that selected the two countries.

This is the “beginning, not the end, of the investigation”, Acting US Attorney Kelly Currie said.

FIFA earlier said it welcomed the process and said the vote to elect its next president would go ahead tomorrow.

Earlier, US officials had revealed an indictment alleging that 14 senior soccer officials and marketing executives had engaged in a $151 million 24-year bribery scheme surrounding the promotion of world tournaments. — BBC Sports.