One of seven detained football officials has agreed to extradition to the United States (U.S.) on corruption charges, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said on Friday.
The FOJ did not identify the official, however, saying only that he agreed to extradition and would be taken to the U.S. within 10 days.
The news came after the U.S. made formal requests on July 1 to extradite the seven active or former FIFA officials who were detained in Zurich on May 27.
“A hearing on this formal extradition request took place on Thursday, and this time the person concerned agreed to be extradited to the U.S.
“The FOJ was, therefore, able to approve his extradition immediately in a simplified procedure,’’ a statement said.
According to the Swiss legislation on mutual assistance in criminal matters, the person concerned must be collected by a U.S. police escort and taken to the U.S. within 10 days.
The groups of mostly Latin American officials were arrested on suspicion that they took over $100 million of bribes.
The bribes were said to be in return for the award of media, marketing and sponsoring rights for football tournaments in the U.S. and Latin America.
The seven, which include former FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, initially opposed extradition which led to the formal request by the U.S.
The suspects were entitled to a hearing in Switzerland on the extradition request.
They also have up to 28 days in which they or their lawyers could make submissions to Swiss legal authorities.
However, the officials could appeal should the decision be made to extradite them.
