US judge wants FIFA trial in fall 2017

New York (AFP) – The US judge overseeing the sweeping FIFA corruption scandal said Wednesday that he wanted government prosecution and defense lawyers to work toward a trial starting in September or October 2017.

Judge Raymond Dearie told a pre-trial hearing in New York that it was no longer realistic to expect eight defendants who have pleaded not guilty to go on trial in  spring 2017.

“I want to set a realistic schedule,” he told a 20-minute hearing at the US federal court in Brooklyn. “September or October 2017 is the date, so you can plan accordingly,” he told the lawyers.

US government prosecutors are still in the process of sifting through hundreds of thousands of documents in the sweeping investigation, more than a year after the first indictments were announced in May 2015.

Prosecutors earlier this year proposed an “aggressive but achievable” schedule that would have started jury selection February 27, 2017.

In all, 40 officials and marketing executives are accused of soliciting and receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in a case that has sparked an unprecedented crisis at FIFA.

More than a third have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors in exchange for a possible reduction in sentence.

Of eight defendants under US house arrest, having plead not guilty, five attended Wednesday’s hearing. The other three were represented by their lawyers.