Switzerland approves extradition of ex-FIFA official Costas Takkas to US

Geneva: The Swiss government has approved the extradition of former FIFA official Costas Takkas to the United States.

Takkas is also the former secretary general of the Cayman Islands Football Association and was the attache to the president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), reports EFE.

Takkas has 30 days to appeal this decision, while the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland will have the final word if the appeal was submitted.

Per the request of the US judiciary, Takkas was arrested in Zurich last May 27 along with six other FIFA officials over corruption charges.

The official extradition request was sent by the US Justice Department to the Swiss judiciary on July 1, 2015, in accordance to an international arrest warrant issued by prosecutors in New York on May 20.

Takkas is suspected of having requested and accepted bribes worth millions of dollars from a US company, on behalf of the president of CONCACAF, in exchange for the allocation of marketing rights during the qualifying matches of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.