CRI听力:Football World Stunned by Corruption Probe into FIFA

Swiss police have detained the seven FIFA officials at a Zurich hotel where they had been staying ahead of Friday's vote to choose the next FIFA president.

Among them are two FIFA vice-presidents who head football in the Americas.

The high-profile arrests are being viewed as an uNPRecedented blow against football's powerful governing body, which for years has been dogged by allegations of corruption, but always managed to escape relatively unscathed.

The arrests themselves have come at the request of US authorities, who are charging a total of nine FIFA officials and five business executives in connection with bribes said to be worth more than 150 million US dollars over a period of 24 years.

The charges also include racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.

The seven arrested in Zurich now face extradition to the United States.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch says a number of FIFA executives have used their positions to solicit bribes on repeated occasions.

"In short these individuals, through these 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, one of the most popular sports around the globe."

Richard Weber heads the US Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation division.

"As the best financial investigators in the world, IRS special agents exposed complex money laundering schemes, uncovered millions of dollars in untaxed income and discovered tens of millions of dollars hidden away in offshore accounts. This really is the World Cup of fraud and today we are issuing FIFA a red card."

The United States has taken jurisdiction of the case, in part, because it involves a former top American official at FIFA, Chuck Blazer, who, along with three others, have already pleaded guilty.

Blazer reportedly cut a deal with US investigators and aided in the investigation in exchange for lighter punishment.

Meanwhile, in a separate investigation, Swiss officials have raided FIFA's headquarters as part of a probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.

The vote in 2010 by FIFA which set the events in the two countries has been surrounded by widespread allegations of fraud.

Amid the new scandal, FIFA's ethics committee has provisionally suspended 11 of the suspects named in the US charges, including the seven held in Zurich.

This has also led to calls to suspend Friday's vote on whether FIFA President Sepp Blatter should get a new term.

Blatter himself has vowed to kick out any corrupt officials.

A FIFA spokesman has said Blatter is not involved in the investigations and the presidential vote would be held as planned on Friday.

The 79-year-old is widely favored to win a fifth term in office.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.