November 12 – Former FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo, one of the ‘Zurich Seven’ arrested in May as part of the US-led probe into $150 million worth of financial corruption stretching back 24 years, has instigated a tug of war between the United States and his native Uruguay for his extradition.
Figueredo has agreed to be sent back to his homeland but American authorities may challenge that and have him extradited there instead, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice.
If no agreement can be reached on the fate of the one-time CONMEBOL powerbroker, the Swiss FOJ will decide where he will go.
Switzerland approved 83-year-old Figueredo’s extradition to the United States in September on charges of having taken bribes worth millions of dollars as part of the widespread corruption scandal that has shaken FIFA to the core.
He appealed to Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court and in mid-October Uruguay also submitted a formal request for Figueredo’s extradition – but not to save him from prosecution. Authorities in Montevideo accuse him of abusing his office for personal gain and are understood to be liaising with the Americans. Figueredo was deputy head of CONMEBOL from 1993 to 2013. He then briefly headed the South American confederation for a year before stepping down to become FIFA vice president.
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