The former secretary general of the Cayman Island Football Association, Costas Takkas, has pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges. The former league executive was charged with bribery schemes which is investigated by FIFA.
From Switzerland, Takkas was extradited back in the U.S. and pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The allegations included charges of conspiracies involving racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud, as per Yahoo News.
According to USA Today, Takkas was said to be accepting bribes which cost millions of dollars from Jeffrey Webb, the former CONCACAF President, which is linked to the sale of the marketing rights for the World Cup qualifiers. He was said to be one of the 42 individuals who was charged with more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks for marketing and broadcasting rights of tournaments and matches.
Nellin McIntosh, the spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, said that Takkas was released in a $1 million bond and will stay under house arrest in Miami.
As reported by Ekathimerini, Takkas has a Greek and British nationality and was born in Cyprus. In May 2015, he was one of the six FIFA officials who was arrested upon the request of the American authorities. He was arrested in Zurich and his case has created a crisis on the Switzerland-based FIFA organization.
The Swiss Federal Office approved the extradition of Takkas and said that though he filed for an appeal the FOJ rejected it last March 3. A similar appeal was also made by the last FIFA official in Swiss custody, the former president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, Julio Rocha, but was also turned down by the FOJ. The decision is not yet final though and Rocha was given 10 days to appeal his case on the Federal Supreme Court.
