Investing.com -- Hours after the U.S. Department of Justice rocked the global sports community by handing down corruption charges against a spate of FIFA officials on Wednesday, the head of the world's largest soccer organization sought to regain the trust of fans by uncovering any further allegations of misconduct.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch announced the unsealing of indictments against 14 defendants embroiled in a long-standing bribery and corruption scandal, including nine high-ranking officials from FIFA. The charges stem from the officials' role in the solicitation of bribes and kickbacks related to broadcast and marketing rights of numerous FIFA-sanctioned games, including World Cup qualifiers.
"As unfortunate as these events are, it should be clear that we welcome the actions and the investigations by the US and Swiss authorities and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken to root out any wrongdoing in football," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a statement. "While there will be many who are frustrated with the pace of change, I would like to stress the actions that we have taken and will continue to take. In fact, today’s action by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General was set in motion when we submitted a dossier to the Swiss authorities late last year."
FIFA responded on Wednesday by issuing a provisional ban of 11 individuals from all soccer-related activities, including: former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, former FIFA executive committee member Nicolás Leoz, current FIFA vice president Jeffrey Webb, current FIFA executive member-elect Eduardo Li, current FIFA development officer Julio Rocha, current attaché to the CONCACAF president Costas Takkas, current FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo, current CONMEBOL executive committee member Rafael Esquivel and former CBF president and member of the FIFA organizing committee for Olympic football tournaments Jose Maria Marin.
All nine of the aforementioned individuals were named by the Department of Justice as co-conspirators in the scandal.
"In short, these individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games; where the games would be held; and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide," Lynch said in a joint news conference with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York.
"In many instances, defendants and their co-conspirators planned aspects of their scheme during meetings held here in the United States; they used the banking and wire facilities of the United States to distribute bribe payments; and they planned to profit from their scheme in large part through promotional efforts directed at the growing U.S. market for soccer," Lynch added.
On Friday, Blatter seeks re-election for a fifth term as president of FIFA.
"Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game," Blatter added. "These actions are on top of similar steps that FIFA has taken over the past year to exclude any members who violate our own Code of Ethics."
Blatter, who was not named in the indictments, became FIFA president in 1998, succeeding his longtime boss Joao Havelange.