United States soccer officials are expected to face aggressive scrutiny from Congress on Wednesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing related to charges of widespread corruption among leaders of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.
Senators on the subcommittee overseeing consumer protection, which encompasses sports, said they wanted to determine what involvement or knowledge United States Soccer Federation officials had of the alleged criminal activity laid out by federal prosecutors in indictments unsealed last month. Of the 18 people charged, only one had been an official for U.S. Soccer — Chuck Blazer, who was a key cooperating witness in the federal investigation of FIFA after he pleaded guilty in 2013 to 10 counts, including racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.