Swiss investigators have seized data from soccer governing body FIFA’s headquarters as part of a criminal probe into the controversial 2010 vote that delivered the next two World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
The raid on the soccer body’s hilltop office in Zurich followed dawn arrests at a five-star hotel where FIFA’s ruling executive was based ahead of President Sepp Blatter’s re-election bid on Friday. The arrests were at the instruction of the U.S. Department of Justice which is probing corruption in soccer dating back 20 years.
“The collection of relevant bank documents had already been ordered beforehand at various financial institutes in Switzerland,” the Swiss Attorney General’s office said in a statement on its website. “The files seized today and the collected bank documents will serve criminal proceedings both in Switzerland and abroad.” .....