Switzerland extradited a former Costa Rican football boss to the U.S. on Friday and "approved the handover of a former South American federation chief to Uruguay in the latest judicial steps in the corruption scandal" that has engulfed the sport, according to Malena Castaldi of REUTERS. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) said that Costa Rican Eduardo Li was sent to the U.S., accompanied by two U.S. police officers, "after withdrawing his appeal against extradition." It said it would send Eugenio Figueredo, a former head of CONMEBOL and FIFA VP, to Uruguay, "where he is accused of abusing his office for personal gain." Both men were arrested on May 27 in Zurich as part of investigations led by the U.S. and Switzerland that "span dozens of countries" and center on alleged corruption at the highest levels of the world's most popular sport. CONMEBOL is "heavily embroiled in the corruption probe" led by the FBI. Of 14 football officials and sports marketing execs indicted in the U.S. in May on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges involving more than $150M in payments, eight were from South America (REUTERS, 12/18).
