Ex-FIFA VP to be freed on bond before U.S. trial on bribery charges

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has approved the release pending trial of Alfredo Hawit, a former vice president of world soccer’s governing body FIFA and one of more than 40 people and entities charged in an anti-corruption sweep in the sport, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Hawit is to be released on a $1 million personal recognizance bond secured by $50,000 cash and real estate, lawyer Justin Weddle said. It was not immediately known when he would be released, but Hawit would be subject to home detention and electronic monitoring, Weddle said.

Hawit of Honduras, onetime head of his country’s federation and the North and Central America and Caribbean confederation, CONCACAF, pleaded not guilty on Jan. 13 in Brooklyn federal court to charges that he participated in schemes to accept bribes from sports marketing companies.

Hawit was arrested on Dec. 3 in Zurich, where FIFA has its headquarters, and was later extradited to the United States.

Twelve people and two sports marketing companies have pleaded guilty in the U.S. investigation, which has rocked the world’s most popular sport and led to the ouster of FIFA bosses including suspended president Sepp Blatter.

(Reporting by David Ingram; editing by Grant McCool)