The United States is pursuing corruption charges against 14 current and former officials from FIFA, the global governing body for international soccer, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that sports marketing companies bribed FIFA officials in order to obtain the rights to broadcast games. For instance, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said today that the corrupt officials had extracted more than $110 million in bribes just in relation to the 2016 Copa America, a tournament of 16 teams from throughout the Americas that will be held in the United States.
Lynch said the current charges are "just the beginning," and that more charges may be forthcoming in the US and overseas. Today Swiss officials announced a separate criminal investigation into FIFA's decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals to Russia and Qatar.
Here is the full text of the 166-page indictment:
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