A former president of the Salvadoran Football Association (FESFUT) was extradited to the United States on Friday, where he is accused of corruption in the FIFA bribery scandal.
El Salvador authorities arrested Reynaldo Vásquez in 2016 as part of an international operation against leaders of the governing body of world football. The Salvadoran dismissed the charges when he tried unsuccessfully to prevent extradition in his country.
Vasquez, 65, appeared at a remote hearing in New York on Friday, pleading not guilty to conspiracy charges. He was ordered to be held without bail.
Vásquez’s lawyer declined to comment on Friday.
Vasquez is being charged as part of an extensive investigation into dozens of key football figures in what US prosecutors see as illegal associations involving hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes. Many of the defendants have been extradited to the United States in recent years and eventually plead guilty.
In a 2015 indictment, Vásquez was charged with electronic fraud and money laundering with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Prosecutors allege the former FESFUT chief has accepted money in exchange for providing coverage and marketing rights for the Salvadoran national team’s matches.
Vásquez will appear in court again on April 7.
Although Vásquez’s extradition had been approved by the Supreme Court of Justice since August 2017, it had not been carried out as the former president of FESFUT was serving an eight-year prison sentence in his country for embezzling withheld taxes. 204 employees of his family business.
After being reduced, the sentence has already been served, which opened the door for extradition.