Jury selection began Monday in the FIFA bribery trial of three South American ex-officials, two-and-a-half years after U.S. prosecutors "unveiled the largest graft scandal" in the history of world football, according to the AFP. Forty-two officials and marketing execs and three companies were indicted "in an exhaustive 236-page complaint detailing 92 separate crimes and 15 corruption schemes to the tune of" $200M. Yet as jury selection got underway at a federal court in N.Y., only three were going on trial -- "three fabulously wealthy and once powerful" football officials from South America. They are charged with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The "most high-profile" is José Maria Marin, 85, the former Brazilian Football Confederation president. Also in the dock is former FIFA VP Juan Ángel Napout, 59, and Manuel Burga, who led football in Peru until '14 and once served as a FIFA development committee member. The three defendants "arrived separately and wordlessly," dressed in suits and accompanied by lawyers on the walk into the court house. The "hugely complicated trial, expected to last weeks if not months," will see prosecutors expected to present 350,000 pages of evidence and dozens of witnesses. Opening statements are expected to start Nov. 13. But first, jury selection will take place from a pool of around 200 potential jurors (AFP, 11/6).
