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It was like something out of a spy novel.

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The pre-dawn raids on luxury hotels in central Zurich.

The stern-faced policemen banging on doors and bringing out not terrorists but international sports executives.

In all, 14 of the soccer world’s most connected and influential executives face charges of fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

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The indictment revealed Wednesday by U.S. authorities in New York paints a shocking story of alleged corruption at almost the highest-level of international soccer.

The men arrested were the presidents of their own national soccer federations. They were executives who ran prominent committees of FIFA. They ran the organization of Olympic soccer tournaments, the Confederation Cup, the Gold Cup, even some of the World Cup tournaments themselves. And if you believe the official indictment they were guilty of implementing a widespread network of bribery, kickbacks and financial scams.