Fifa says presidential poll to go ahead despite arrests

Soccer's governing body Fifa called the arrest of six of its leading figures on bribery charges a "difficult moment" but said President Sepp Blatter would not step down and that the next World Cups would go ahead as planned in Russia and Qatar.

“It is certainly a difficult moment for us,“ spokesman Walter De Gregorio said. “It is a hard time for us. But this is good for Fifa. It confirms that we are on the right track. It hurts. It‘s not easy. But it‘s the right way to go.“

De Gregorio added that the election of the Fifa president, which is expected to return Blatter for a fifth term, would proceed this week as scheduled, saying the arrests were unrelated to the vote.

Swiss police arrested some of the most powerful figures in global soccer on Wednesday, announcing a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups and plunging the world‘s most popular sport into turmoil.

Those arrested did not include Blatter, the Swiss head of football‘s multi-billion dollar governing body Fifa, but included several of those just below him in the hierarchy of the wealthiest and most powerful sports body on earth.

Swiss authorities on Wednesday opened criminal proceedings against individuals on suspicion of mismanagement and money laundering related to the award of rights to host the 2018 and 2022 Fifa soccer World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) also said in a statement it had seized data and documents stored in computer systems at Fifa.

The OAG said the criminal proceedings, which were opened on March 10th, are separate to a US criminal investigation into the allocation of media, marketing and sponsorship rights for soccer tournaments.

Six high-ranking soccer officials, including two vice-presidents of world governing body Fifa, were arrested by Swiss police on Wednesday and detained pending extradition to the United States.

The OAG suspects that irregularities occurred in the allocation of the Fifa World Cups of 2018 and 2022, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

It said the offences were suspected to have taken place at least partly in Switzerland, where Fifa has its headquarters.

Subsequent to the seizure of files, the OAG and Swiss police will question 10 people who took part in voting on the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as members of the Executive Committee in 2010.

A spokeswoman for Fifa declined to comment.

Reuters