SOCCER

Where FIFA Stands After Blatter’s Resignation

FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, resigned his position at a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday in the wake of an international corruption inquiry. Valeriano Di Domenico/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 
Questions and answers about the resignation of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, and the indictments of 14 soccer officials and marketing executives on corruption charges.

What’s the Latest?

■ Sepp Blatter said Tuesday that he would resign from the presidency of FIFA in the wake of a corruption inquiry, an extraordinary turn just four days after he was re-elected and defiantly insisted that he was blameless and committed to cleaning up the organization. Mr. Blatter, who was re-elected as FIFA’s president on Friday, said he would ask FIFA to schedule a new election for his replacement as soon as possible.
 
FIFA INVESTIGATION By Emily B. Hager 1:38
A Roller-Coaster Week for Sepp Blatter

A Roller-Coaster Week for Sepp Blatter

In the wake of a corruption inquiry at FIFA, Mr. Blatter first said, “I would like to stay with you,” while promising to reform the organization. But on Tuesday he said he would step down.
 By Emily B. Hager on  June 2, 2015. Photo by Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
■ The federal authorities believe that Blatter’s top lieutenant at FIFA, Jérôme Valcke, made $10 million in bank transactions that are central elements of the bribery scandal engulfing international soccer, United States officials and others briefed on the case said Monday. The revelation puts the money trail closer to Mr. Blatter, FIFA’s president, than had been previously known.
The money was paid by FIFA to a development fund for Caribbean soccer administered by Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice president who was indicted last week in a broad corruption inquiry. FIFA released a statement confirming the payment but denying any impropriety by its officials, but Britain’s Press Association reported that it had obtained a letter addressed to Mr. Valcke that requested the $10 million transfer.
■ FIFA’s medical chief, Michel D’Hooghe, the longest-serving member on the executive committee, on Monday threatened to leave international soccer’s governing body unless it made rapid reforms. “I cannot reconcile myself with an institution where I work, where I have carried the medical responsibility for 27 years and about which I now learn that there is a lot of corruption,” Mr. D’Hooghe told the VRT television network in Belgium. “My conclusion is very clear: I will no longer continue to participate under such conditions. So, it is high time for change to come and we will see over the coming days what may happen. Let’s be clear, if this atmosphere prevails at FIFA, I have no place there.”
■ FIFA’s ethics committee provisionally barred the former Concacaf general secretary Enrique Sanz from all soccer-related activity. Mr. Sanz was not among the soccer officials named in a Justice Department indictment last Wednesday but was barred by FIFA, it said, “on the basis of investigations carried out by the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee.” A former executive with the sports media company Traffic Sports, which also was caught up in the indictments, Mr. Sanz was placed on a leave of absence by Concacaf on Thursday.

What’s Next?

Mr. Blatter’s resignation is not immediate. A special meeting of FIFA’s member nations will be called to elect a new president. According to FIFA’s rules, there must be at least four months’ notice given to members for such a meeting, so the likely window for a new election is from December 2015 to March 2016.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, who last week lost a close election to unseat Mr. Blatter as FIFA president, hinted that he would be open to making a new run at the job now that Mr. Blatter has announced he will leave the post. Prince Ali told CNN that he would be “at the disposal” of anyone who wanted change at FIFA, including those who may have been “afraid to do so” before Blatter’s resignation on Tuesday. “At the end of the day we have to salvage FIFA,” he said.

Who Was Charged?

Here Are the FIFA Officials Indicted on Corruption Charges 

A look at the 14 people, including FIFA officials, who face racketeering, conspiracy and corruption charges in the United States. 
In Custody in Switzerland
Jeffrey Webb: President of Concacaf, one of the six regional confederations that compose FIFA, and a vice president of FIFA; Eugenio Figueredo: Former president of Conmebol, the South American soccer federation; Eduardo Li: President of the Costa Rican soccer federation, who was to join the FIFA executive committee last week; Julio Rocha:President of the Nicaraguan soccer federation; Costas Takkas: Former president of the Cayman Islands soccer federation; Rafael Esquivel:President of the Venezuelan soccer federation; José Maria Marin:Former president of Brazil’s soccer federation.
These seven men were arrested by the Swiss authorities — at the request of United States law enforcement — last Wednesday in a dawn police operation at their luxury hotel in Zurich, where they had gathered for FIFA’s annual congress. They remain in custody in Zurich, reportedly confined to their cells for as much as 23 hours a day. Six of the seven have contested their extradition to the United States, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice said, meaning American officials will have 40 days to file formal requests. One of the men — it is unclear which — has agreed to expedited extradition. All seven have been provisionally banned from all soccer-related activities by FIFA’s ethics committee.
Released on Bail
Jack Warner: Former president of Concacaf and former vice president of FIFA
Warner, who resigned from FIFA in 2011 amid an earlier ethics scandal, turned himself in to the police in his native Trinidad last week. A judge read out the 12 charges against him and released him on bail of about $400,000. He must report in to the authorities regularly as a condition of his release. His next court hearing is July 12, according to The Associated Press, but Warner, 72, may eventually end up in an American courtroom since the United States and Trinidad have a bilateral extradition agreement. He has repeatedly, defiantly and, at times, comically professed his innocence.
Under House Arrest
Nicolás Leoz: A former president of Conmebol and former member of FIFA executive committee.
A judge in Paraguay on Monday ordered the detention of Leoz, 86, who had been receiving medical treatment for high blood pressure. “He is under house arrest,” said a district police commissioner Clemente Espinola. “There’s a patrol car outside his house.” He, too, has been provisionally banned from soccer by FIFA.
Arraigned in New York
Aaron Davidson: President of Traffic Sports USA, a promoter of soccer events, and chairman of the board of the North American Soccer League.
Davidson, 44, pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Friday and was released on a $5 million bond secured by several real estate properties. He cannot leave his New York apartment without permission. Davidson has been provisionally banned from soccer by FIFA and suspended from any role in the N.A.S.L., though the team owned by his company, the Carolina Railhawks, will continue to operate and play league matches.
Arrest Warrants Issued
Alejandro Burzaco: President of the sports media company Torneos; Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis: Father and son — and president and vice president — who run the sports media company Full Play International.
An Argentine judge issued arrested warrants last Thursday for Burzaco and Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, and that country’s tax authorities said they had opened an investigation into tax evasion. Interpol raided the offices of the two companies on Friday, and it has issued red alerts for the men’s arrest. Burzaco, 50, and both Hugo, 70, and Mariano Jinkis, 40, are listed as “wanted” on Interpol’s website.
José Margulies: Sports media executive. Charged as an intermediary who facilitated illegal payments, reportedly in exchange for an annual commission.
Margulies, 75, is listed as “wanted” by Interpol. Various news reports list him as a Brazilian and as an Argentine. Like several of the others named in the indictments, he is charged with racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud.

TIMELINE 

The Rise and Fall of Sepp Blatter 

Scandal and accusations have dotted the FIFA reign of Sepp Blatter. 
 OPEN TIMELINE 

Will Sepp Blatter Face Charges?

Mr. Blatter has not been charged, although the soccer officials who were indicted might present prosecutors with information damaging to him.