United States officials have charged 16 more individuals as part of their investigation into corruption within FIFA.
The Department of Justice released a document detailing current and former FIFA officials who are accused of being involved "in criminal schemes involving well over $200 million in bribes and kickbacks."
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The news follows the arrests of Alfredo Hawit, president of CONCACAF, the governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean soccer; and Juan Angel Napou, his South American counterpart. They were arrested Thursday in Zurich on suspicion of accepting bribes worth millions of dollars.
Newly indicted Alfredo Hawit insists he was ‘not involved in anything’ illegal https://t.co/EC1xTvQlIx pic.twitter.com/R7pgvEEMmC
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) December 3, 2015 U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch confirmed the news at a media briefing Thursday.
"We stated our determination to root out corruption and bring the wrongdoers to justice and hold the corrupt individuals accountable," she said.
"Each of the 16 new defendants is charged with racketeering conspiracy and sustained abuse of their positions to achieve financial gain.
"We are working to secure the arrest and extradition of further defendants in other countries."
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Getty Images)
Lynch revealed eight additional individuals with links to FIFA have decided to plead guilty, five of whom have not been identified to date.
"One defendant is the chief of FIFA's disciplinary committee, who is charged with stamping out the corrupt behavior in which he is now thought to be involved. This is truly outrageous and the scale of corruption of the alleged [at FIFA] is unconscionable," Lynch said. "The message of this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows, hoping to evade this ongoing investigation — you will not wait us out and you will not escape our focus."
Acting FIFA president Issa Hayatou, speaking as the Executive Committee unveiled its plans for reform within soccer's world governing body, pledged the organization will cooperate fully with the investigation.
"The events that have taken place this morning underscore the necessity to complete a full program of reform for FIFA," he said.
"A great step has been taken in this sense as the ExCo have approved a series of proposals put forward by the Reform Committee. The proposals are the roadmap of a radical reform of the governance of FIFA and its operations and procedures.
"The reforms are clear and mark the beginning of a change of culture in FIFA and these proposals will now be put forward."