October 9 – Another of the seven FIFA executives arrested at their hotels in Zurich on May 27 has had US extradition requests approved by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice.
Costas Takkas, a British citizen, described as a former secretary-general of the Cayman Islands Football Association and attaché to former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, has 30 days to appeal the Swiss ruling.
Takkas is accused of acting on behalf of Webb “demanding and accepting bribes of millions of dollars for the president of CONCACAF in connection with the sale of marketing rights for World Cup 2018 and 2022 qualifiers to a US sports marketing company.”
In their ruling the Swiss say that Takkas “massively” influenced the commercial marketplace for media rights affecting both sports marketing companies and football federations.
Takkas has by far the lowest profile of those arrested and, according to the charges, only acted for Webb. There is no mention that he personally benefitted from the rights. Webb was the first of the seven arrested in Switzerland to eventually agree to extradition.
While the others are still in Switzerland, extradition requests have been approved for Uruguay’s Eugenio Figueredo, Venezuelan Rafael Esquivel and Eduardo Li of Costa Rica. They all have 30 days to appeal.
Former Brazilian federation president Jose Maria Marin is rumoured to have agreed preliminary bail conditions with the US for his extradition but no official ruling has yet been handed down by the Swiss.
Julio Rocha, former President of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, agreed to be extradited to Nicaragua in August, but the US also want him for their case.
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