Ex-FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb To Appear In US Court On Bribery Charges Saturday

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. EDT: Former FIFA executive Jeffrey Webb pleaded not guilty in New York Saturday to charges alleging massive international corruption and was freed on $10 million bond. Webb, 50, a dual British and Cayman Islands citizen appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, Agence France-Press reported. He was ordered to relinquish his passports.

Webb, one of seven FIFA officials indicted in the scandal, was the first to appear in court in the scandal. He arrived in New York from Switzerland earlier this week, waiving extradition.

No trial date was set, Reuters reported.

Original post:

Former FIFA Vice President Jeffrey Webb has been extradited to the United States to face racketeering and bribery charges. He is set to be arraigned at federal court in New York at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday.

Webb was arrested in Switzerland on May 27 on corruption charges and detained along with six other officials, all of whom are fighting extradition. The defendants planned to pay bribes of more than $150 million over 24 years for the broadcasting and hosting rights for tournaments such as the World Cup, prosecutors are claiming.

Webb was the vice president and an executive committee member of FIFA as well as the president of football's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, CONCACAF.

The U.S. Department of Justice requested that seven officials be detained following a major inquiry by the FBI, which was sparked by the bidding process for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups. A total of 14 current and former FIFA officials were indicted, with the Department of Justice saying that the fraud was planned in the U.S., with American banks used to transfer the money.

“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systematic and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement on May 27. “It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.”

The arrests were made two days before FIFA president Joseph Blatter was up for a fifth term re-election and, while he wasn't one of the officials charged, he resigned as president June 2.

The bad news does not stop there for FIFA. On Friday, Coca-Cola -- one of FIFA's sponsors -- asked for an independent commission to reform the governing body. Another sponsor, McDonald's, issued a statement on Friday pressing FIFA for change and saying, "We believe FIFA internal controls and compliance culture are inconsistent with expectations McDonald’s has for its business partners throughout the world."