Off the wire
• Blanc says PSG facing "complicated" ahead of Chelsea ties  • Gignac rejects offers from Europe to stay in Mexico  • Aussie supermarkets caught up in Thai seafood company's child labor claims  • Aussie market opens higher but still below 5,000 point level  • Roundup: Canadian stock market drops as commodities weigh  • Aussie dollar up on rebound in oil,commodities  • London, Edinburgh to strengthen cooperation on security  • Roundup: U.S. stocks rebound ahead of Fed policy meeting  • 1st LD: Yemeni president says ceasefire to begin Tuesday morning  • Urgent: Yemeni president says ceasefire to begin Tuesday morning  
You are here: 　 Home

Honduras' former president turns himself in over FIFA corruption scandal

Xinhua, December 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

The former President of Honduras (1990-1994) and of the country's football federation, Rafael Callejas, turned himself over to U.S. authorities to face corruption allegations, local press reported on Monday.

According to Honduran Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, Callejas traveled on Monday morning to the U.S. to face justice after the FIFA corruption scandal uncovered his alleged participation weeks ago.

"Callejas decided to travel to the U.S. and face the legal process in a correct way," said Corrales and added that "under no circumstances was he handcuffed. He travelled under his own will."

Corrales also said Callejas "travelled on a private flight" and that neither Honduran nor U.S. authorities were involved. "The flight was paid by a group of friends, who told him this was the best way to help him support his decision," added the minister.

Alfredo Hawit, another former president of the Honduran football federation, was arrested in Switzerland on December 3 within the same investigation.

On the same day, the Honduran government received an extradition request for Callejas from the American authorities. Endi