Ecuador football president, secretary under house arrest

Ecuador's football federation (EFA) president Luis Chiriboga and secretary Francisco Acosta were placed under house arrest on Saturday as part of the ongoing international probe into corruption at FIFA.

Prosecutors in Quito said they had decided on the measure out of respect for the ages of the two officials who are suspected of money laundering.

"Luis Ch. and Francisco A. are under house arrest because of their age," tweeted the prosecutor, who added also that another official, Vinicio Luna, had been detained as part of the same investigation.

Chiriboga, 69, turned himself in Friday in his home country, which does not extradite its nationals.

Chiriboga, who is also a member of the executive committee of South American confederation CONMEBOL, was among the 16 officials named Thursday in the latest US justice indictment stemming from a sweeping investigation of corruption at FIFA.

Prosecutors said Friday a judge had issued a warrant for his arrest and frozen his bank accounts after Ecuadoran investigators opened their own probe in connection with the US charges.

Two of the 16 officials indicted Thursday, all Latin Americans, were arrested in a dawn raid on a Zurich hotel reminiscent of the day the scandal at world football's governing body first exploded in May.

They are Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, both FIFA vice presidents.
Source: AFP