6 FIFA officials added to Interpol’s ‘most wanted’ list
Bribery and corruption scandal continues to rock world soccer organization days after it toned down anti-Israel bid
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Interpol added six men with ties to FIFA to its most wanted list on Wednesday, issuing an international alert for two former FIFA officials and four executives on charges including racketeering and corruption.
Two of the men, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner of Trinidad and former executive committee member Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, have been arrested in their home countries. Warner has since been released and Leoz is under house arrest. The Interpol “red notice” means they risk arrest anywhere they travel.
Warner was pushed out of FIFA four years earlier amid another bribery scandal, which he blamed at the time on “Zionists.”
Others listed were Argentinians Alejandro Burzaco and Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, who together are accused of paying more than $100 million in bribes for media and commercial rights to soccer tournaments; and Jose Margulies, a Brazilian broadcast executive.
The announcement from Interpol comes a day after Sepp Blatter announced he will step down as FIFA president amid the widening corruption scandal.
Last weekend, Blatter played a central role in persuading the Palestinian Soccer Association to abandon a bid to have Israel booted out of world soccer, instead pushing a compromise proposal.
He later said PA had shown “a big heart” in dropping the move, and expressed hope that the sport could help foster better relations between the two sides.
The Times of Israel Community.