CONCACAF, CONMEBOL Presidents Reportedly Among FIFA Execs Arrested in Swiss Raid

Swiss authorities "began a new series of pre-dawn arrests Thursday" as another step in the investigation into the corruption of world football, according to Rebecca R. Ruiz, Matt Apuzzo and Sam Borden of the New York Times.

The investigation is being led by United States officials, with CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit and CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout among those arrested. Hours after the original report, BBC Sport reported a total of 16 names charged by the US authorities:

• Alfredo Hawit, CONCACAF president
• Ariel Alvarado, ex-Panamanian football official
• Rafael Callejas, former president of Honduras football
• Brayan Jimenez, Guatemala FA chief
• Rafael Salguero, Guatemalan Fifa executive committee member
• Hector Trujillo, general secretary of Guatemala FA
• Reynaldo Vasquez, former El Salvador FA president
• Juan Angel Napout, CONMEBOL president
• Manuel Burga, former Peru FA president
• Carlos Chavez, Bolivia football president
• Luis Chiriboga, Ecuador football president
• Marco Polo del Nero, Brazil football president
• Eduardo Deluca, CONMEBOL general secretary
• Jose Luis Meiszner, former CONMEBOL secretary general
• Romer Osuna, Bolivia football audit and compliance committee chief
• Ricardo Teixeira, former Brazil FA chief

Haiti and Napout were both suspended 90 days by FIFA on Friday, per BBC Sport. 

Swiss authorities previously released a statement on the arrests, per Ben Rumsby of the Daily Telegraph:

U.S. Soccer also released an official statement regarding the hosting of next year's Copa America Centenario, per Rob Harris of the Associated Press:

Some of the arrests took place in the Baur au Lac, the same hotel where some FIFA officials were arrested in May. The New York Times report stated "the police were targeting current and former senior soccer officials on charges that include racketeering, money laundering and fraud."

Borden provided footage shot near the hotel:

Longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter was not targeted in the new charges. He has been suspended since October after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against him in late September. There is an election to select his replacement set for February.

Apuzzo framed the news within the context of Blatter's tenure:

This is not the first course of action against FIFA and its leadership. As the New York Times noted, United States officials brought charges against 18 people of 12 nationalities in May based on years of corruption, ranging from accepting bribes to rigging World Cup bids.