Authorities arrested more than a dozen people on Wednesday as part of an investigation of corruption within FIFA, soccer's world governing body, The New York Times reported.
And the man who reportedly helped the FBI build its case is a former top-ranking FIFA executive from New York City. The New York Daily News published an investigation in November about the involvement of former FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer in the corruption case, and BuzzFeed wrote about the "swindling suburban soccer dad" in June.
Blazer was "one of the most powerful men in world soccer" before he left FIFA in 2013 amid an ethics investigation, according to SB Nation, which noted that Blazer most likely cooperated with the FBI's FIFA investigation to avoid prison time.
Blazer has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy, money-laundering conspiracy, income-tax evasion, and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), according to a US Department of Justice statement released Wednesday. He forfeited nearly $2 million and agreed to pay another undetermined amount when he is sentenced.
It is unclear whether Blazer made a deal with investigators and what his sentence will be.
Those arrested on corruption charges on Wednesday include some of FIFA's highest-ranking officials. While FIFA President Sepp Blatter was not among those arrested, officials told The Times that the investigation was ongoing and that Blatter had not been cleared of wrongdoing.
The arrests came as FIFA officials gathered in Zurich for their annual meeting. Arrested officials are expected to be extradited to the US, according to The Times. Authorities accuse the officials of accepting millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from the 1990s to today.
While authorities have not confirmed Blazer's role in the case, Blazer is suspected of being a key player in the investigation.
How Blazer rose to the top of international soccer
Blazer's rise within FIFA was meteoric. Blazer first got involved in soccer when his son started playing in 1976, according to an extensive BuzzFeed profile of him. He started coaching the team and became more deeply involved in the sport, despite never having played himself. He eventually graduated from his roles in youth soccer and moved up the ranks of state and national soccer organizations.
Blazer was elected executive vice president of the United States Soccer Federation in 1984. He lost his spot within the USSF in 1986 when he failed to get reelected, but then he cofounded a new professional league called the American Soccer League, which eventually merged with another league after only two seasons, BuzzFeed reported.
Blazer met a man named Jack Warner in 1984 when they were both serving at Concacaf, FIFA's governing body for soccer in North America and the Caribbean. The pair became friends at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, according to BuzzFeed. Blazer persuaded Warner to run for president of Concacaf and later ran the campaign. When Warner won, he appointed Blazer general secretary in charge of the confederation's daily operations.
Blazer reportedly knew a lot about the business side of soccer and was an audacious salesman, making him a good candidate for reviving soccer in America.
Ken Bensinger wrote in BuzzFeed: "[Blazer] helped win Major League Soccer's first real TV contract, and [last year] the MLS inked a $720 million TV deal. The US national team, which he helped promote, is now a World Cup mainstay, ranked higher than powers such as France and the Netherlands. And more people in America are playing soccer than any team sport save basketball."
Blazer eventually got a spot on FIFA's executive committee, the first American to do so in nearly 50 years, and helped turn FIFA into a "profit machine," according to BuzzFeed.
How Blazer became an FBI informant
Blazer reportedly turned on Warner when he realized that he might be linked to alleged ethics violations by the former Concacaf president. Warner was among those arrested Wednesday and charged with racketeering and bribery offenses, according to the Department of Justice.
Blazer most likely turned Warner in to ethics investigators to avoid being labeled a fellow conspirator once the accusations against Warner became so damning that it seemed likely he would be indicted, according to the Daily News.
The FBI and the IRS reportedly persuaded Blazer to cooperate by telling him they knew he had been evading taxes for decades.
To help the FBI build its case, Blazer took a keychain with a tiny microphone embedded in it around with him to meetings with FIFA officials, according to the Daily News. Some of these meetings took place at the London Olympics in 2012. Blazer reportedly emailed the officials the FBI was targeting and arranged to meet them at the games.
Blazer's lavish lifestyle
Blazer himself was reportedly enjoying the perks of his position. The Daily News wrote about the millions of dollars he charged to credit cards to fund his extravagant lifestyle, which reportedly included a Trump Tower apartment just for his cats.
From 1996 to 2011, Blazer made $15.3 million in commission from sponsorships and TV rights, revenue from match tickets, and sales of luxury-suite rentals, parking, and venue concessions, according to the Daily News. Blazer is accused of hiding the money in shell companies. He also earned millions more for his position with Concacaf.
Concacaf reportedly paid thousands of dollars for fancy apartments and a Hummer for Blazer, who racked up millions in personal expenses that Concacaf paid for.
Blazer was known for eating at expensive restaurants frequented by celebrities and flying on private jets. He had a luxury condo in the Bahamas and had met Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela, according to BuzzFeed.
Concacaf investigated Blazer, BuzzFeed reported, and in 2013 found that he defrauded the confederation.
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