The unsealed indictment list is out and 16 new defendants have been named:
- Ariel Alvarado: FIFA Disciplinary Committee member, former President of Panamanian Football Federation.
- Manuel Burga: FIFA Development Committee member, former President of Peruvian Football Federation.
- Rafael Callejas: former President of Honduras and former President of Honduran Football Federation
- Carlos Chávez: Treasurer of CONMEBOL, former President of Bolivian Football Federation.
- Luís Chiriboga: President of Ecuadorian Football Federation, CONMEBOL Executive Committee member.
- Eduardo Deluca: Former General Secretary of CONMEBOL.
- Alfredo Hawit: Vice President of FIFA, President of CONCACAF
- Brayan Jiménez: President of Guatemalan Football Federation, FIFA Committee for Fair Play member.
- José Luis Meiszner: Former General Secretary of CONMEBOL.
- Juan Ángel Napout: Vice President of FIFA, Executive Committee Member, President of CONCACAF
- Romer Osuna: FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee member, former Treasurer of CONMEBOL.
- Marco Polo del Nero: President of Brazilian Football Federation
- Rafael Salguero: Former President of Guatemalan Football Federation, former FIFA Executive Committee member
- Ricardo Teixeira: FIFA Executive Committee member, former President of Brazilian Football Federation
- Héctor Trujillo: General Secretary of Guatemalan Football Federation and judge on the Constitutional Court of Guatemala.
- Reynaldo Vasquez: Former President of Salvadoran Football Federation.
WOW. This list implicates officials from nearly every country in Latin America, including Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, and El Salvador. It even includes a judge on the Constitutional Court of Guatemala and the former president of Honduras?! WTF. To top it off, the president of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL were arrested in Zurich just this morning.
One name that managed to slip through the cracks is that of Justino Compeán, former President of Mexico’s fútbol federation and current CONCACAF VP. Reports are speculating that he might just get called up to lead CONCACAF through this incredibly trying time, making him the first Mexican to take control of the federation since Joaquín Soria Terrazas back in 1990.
Loretta Lynch was as fierce as ever in her press conference this afternoon, describing FIFA’s betrayal of trust as “truly outrageous,” its scale of corruption as “unconscionable.” What a boss. She even left FIFA officials (those remaining) with a warning (this one’s for you, Sepp):
“You will not wait us out; you will not escape our focus.”
Damn. Apparently, this U.S.-based probe has traced funds through at least 40 nations. This new superseding indictment practically doubles the size of the existing case, expanding on bribery and corruption charges and striking yet another blow to FIFA’s precarious position of world dominance.
Here’s the U.S. Department of Justice’s document on the new corruption allegations, if you’re interested in taking a look. All 240 pages of it.