Lima (AFP) – Peru’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday to extradite the ex-president of the Peruvian Football Federation to the United States, where he is wanted on charges stemming from the FIFA corruption scandal.
Manuel Burga will be extradited to face racketeering and conspiracy charges, though the court rejected a charge of money laundering.
The 58-year-old former football honcho, who was arrested in December, will remain in jail in Peru until the foreign ministry coordinates his extradition with US officials, said judge Javier Villa Stein.
Burga was among the second batch of 16 suspects indicted by the United States on December 3 in its explosive investigation into widespread graft at world football’s governing body.
The scandal kicked off just over one year ago with the dramatic arrest of seven top football officials at a Zurich luxury hotel on May 27, 2015. A further seven sports marketing executives and current or former football officials were indicted that day.
The aftermath of the scandal has felled much of FIFA’s top leadership, including long-time president Sepp Blatter, who was banned from football for six years.
Burga is accused of receiving illicit payments in exchange for broadcast rights for several editions of the Copa America tournament.
