Former Brazilian soccer chief Jose Maria Marin was extradited from Switzerland to the United States on Tuesday, Swiss authorities said, to face charges stemming from an FBI investigation into corruption at the highest levels of the sport.
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A judge agreed to release the 83-year-old defendant on $15 million bond and allow him live with tight restrictions in a New York apartment valued at $3.5 million until his case is resolved.
Marin stands accused of having taken bribes worth millions of dollars from sports marketing companies in connection with the sale of rights for the Copa America tournaments for 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023, and for the Copa do Brasil for the period from 2013 to 2022.
In Brazil, the news of Marin’s arrest last May was greeted with shock in part because it was an outside agency, the U.S. Justice Department, that had acted. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning in Brooklyn federal court, where he is expected to plead not guilty to corruption charges.
José Maria Marin, former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, was turned over to two American police officers on Tuesday.
Marin had earlier opposed his extradition but agreed to be sent to the USA during a hearing on October 27. He is the second official to be extradited in the probe, after former Federation Internationale de Football Association vice president Jeffrey Webb in July.
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The remaining five executives are still in Switzerland, waiting for the transfer to the US.
