Guatemala extradites ex-football chief to US in FIFA probe

Guatemala extradited former national football chief Brayan Jimenez to the United States, where he is wanted on bribery charges engulfing the FIFA world football body.

The Foreign Ministry said Jimenez, 61, was put on a commercial flight from La Aurora International Airport in the capital.

The former executive was dressed in a crisp blue business suit and white shirt without a tie.

Jimenez was detained in January in a disheveled state while intoxicated at an apartment in a posh suburb of Guatemala City.

He had been on the run since December 3 when US officials said he was one of 16 Latin American football officials indicted under their probe of FIFA corruption.

Jimenez had been held since his arrest at the Mariscal Zavala jail, a modified military barracks for high-profile detainees.

The US Justice Department had requested Jimenez’s arrest for extradition to face charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and embezzlement.

Jimenez, who was a member of FIFA’s Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility, had said he would not appeal the extradition.

Another Guatemalan, the federation’s former secretary general Hector Trujillo, 62, was arrested during a family cruise in Florida in December. He was later freed on bail.
Source: AFP