Paraguayan authorities raid headquarters of South American governing body CONMEBOL
Thursday 7 January 2016 23:19, UK
Authorities in Paraguay have raided the headquarters of South American football's governing body CONMEBOL as part of the probe into corruption within FIFA.
Prosecutor Hernan Galeano led the raid on their office building on the outskirts of the country's capital Asuncion, according to local police official Abel Canete, with the search having been ordered by the US Justice Department.
The wide-ranging investigation into FIFA by Swiss and US authorities saw a number of CONMEBOL members charged, including former presidents Juan Angel Napout, Nicolas Leoz and Eugenio Figueredo.
CONMEBOL's headquarters had diplomatic immunity from 1992 but that privilege was withdrawn last year after the FIFA scandal erupted.
Lawyer Cristobal Caceres said the raid was linked to the case pending in the USA against former confederation chief Nicolas Leoz, who is facing extradition.
"We are providing the documents that are being asked for," Caceres said before adding that "some of the documents pertaining to Doctor Leoz are not here."
Leoz, 87, has been under house arrest in Asuncion since last May, when he was one of the first FIFA officials to be charged on the eve of the governing body's congress in Zurich.
Away from Paraguay, Guatemalan judge Hector Trujillo, former general secretary of the country's football federation, has been placed under house arrest and ordered to wear an electronic monitor as part of his bail agreement.
A federal magistrate in New York City on Thursday set bond for Trujillo at $4m (£2.75m) - he was arrested last month on charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.
And Marco Polo Del Nero has temporarily stood down as president of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) for a second time.
Del Nero returned to the role earlier this week but on Thursday the federation announced he was again stepping away from the role, this time citing "personal reasons". Antonio Carlos Nunes de Lima will deputise on this occasion.
