A former high-ranking football official in the Americas pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges in a multi-million dollar bribery scheme at the heart of a US investigation into corruption in the sport's world governing body.
Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, a former FIFA vice president and acting head of the North and Central America and Caribbean confederation, CONCACAF, entered his plea in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, after being extradited from Switzerland.
Hawit, 64, was among 41 people and entities charged in the probe of corruption spanning the globe, with federations in the Americas the hardest hit so far as Swiss and US authorities investigate. Twelve people and two sports marketing companies have pleaded guilty.
The corruption allegations prompted FIFA President Sepp Blatter to say he would resign last year, only days after being re-elected to a fifth term.
Blatter has not been charged with a crime, and denies any wrongdoing. FIFA ethics investigators banned Blatter from football for eight years, however, along with European soccer boss Michel Platini, who had been favoured to succeed him.
Hawit was arrested at a Zurich hotel on December 3 along with South American football chief Juan Angel Napout, hours before they were set to participate in a meeting on cleaning up FIFA, which has its headquarters in the Swiss city.
They were among 16 people whom the US Department of Justice accused that day of participating in schemes involving more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks sought for marketing and broadcast rights to tournaments and matches.
The indictment said Hawit, who also led the Honduras foootball federation, participated in schemes to accept bribes from sports marketing companies.
It said two of these companies, Brazil's Traffic Group and Argentina's Full Play Group S.A., paid Hawit $250,000 in bribes in a failed bid to secure CONCACAF marketing rights.
Hawit and another official received $600,000 in bribes from Miami-based Media World, an affiliate of Spanish media company Imagina Group, in exchange for the rights to 2022 World Cup qualifying matches, the indictment said.