October 29 – Jose Maria Marin, who organised last year’s World Cup in Brazil, has finally agreed to be extradited from Switzerland to face corruption charges in the United States, the last of the so-called ‘Zurich Seven’ indicted in May to have the result of extradition hearings announced.
Marin, former head of the Brazilian FA, “must be placed in the custody of a US police escort and taken to the USA within 10 days”, the Swiss justice office said in a statement after he dropped his opposition.
Reports that Marin was negotiating extradition terms with the US emerged early October with Marin rumoured to have agreed 40 million Brazilian Reals ($10 million) payment as part of his extradition terms that will see him transferred to the US but confined under bail conditions to his Trump Tower Manhattan apartment. Marin will likely be confined to a 20 mile radius of the Brooklyn court where his case will be heard. (see http://bit.ly/1NCKTVs). The Swiss announcement makes the formal extradition official.
Marin, 83, was among the seven officials detained in Zurich just before the FIFA election and is accused in the US to have accepted millions of dollars from sports marketing companies in connection with the sale of marketing rights for the Copa America tournaments for 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023, and for the Copa do Brasil for the period from 2013 to 2022.
The Swiss statement added: “His actions are said to have resulted in funds being diverted from two of FIFA’s continental confederations, as well as from the national football association of Brazil.”
Marin, who faces up 20 years in prison on racketeering charges if found guilty, became head of the organising committee for the World Cup after the resignation of Ricardo Teixeira, ironically implicated in a previous FIFA scandal for taking kickbacks from World Cup broadcasting deals.
Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb agreed to be extradited in July and is currently under house arrest while the other five detained officials are appealing.
At the time of his arrest, Marin was involved in FIFA’s organisation of the football tournament for the 2016 Rio Olympics but his career as one of the world’s most prominent footballing administrators is now effectively over.
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