A former executive committee member of soccer's global governing body Fifa told a US judge in November 2013 that he took bribes in connection with the 1998 and 2010 World Cups, among other major events.
Charles Blazer, a US citizen who spent two decades as one of the world's most powerful soccer officials, secretly pleaded guilty to 10 criminal counts in New York as part of an agreement with US prosecutors, according to a partially redacted transcript of the hearing released yesterday.
According to US officials, Blazer's cooperation helped build a sprawling corruption case that has led to charges against top Fifa figures and helped prompt the resignation on Tuesday of longtime president Sepp Blatter.
In addition to serving as an executive committee member from 1997 to 2013, Blazer was also the general secretary of CONCACAF, soccer's governing body in North and Central America and in the Caribbean, from 1990 to 2011.
Meanwhile, former Fifa vice president Jack Warner has made a televised address in Trinidad, saying he will prove a link between football's governing body and his nation's elections in 2010.
"I will no longer keep secrets for them who actively seek to destroy the country," Warner said.
Warner also said in the address, which was a paid political advertisement, that "I reasonably actually fear for my life".
Still, a half-hour after the speech aired, Warner appeared at his Independent Liberal Party's rally held under a canopy on a residential street.
At least a couple hundred people were present when Warner spoke, many of them having not seen the televised remarks.
Warner said he has documents and cheques that link Fifa officials, including embattled president Sepp Blatter, to the 2010 election in Trinidad and Tobago.
"I apologise for not disclosing my knowledge of these events before," Warner said.
At his rally, a half-hour into his remarks, Warner - mopping sweat from his forehead several times - told supporters that he will not hold back in his new-found plan to expose scandal.
He said he has compiled reams of documents and is delivering them to his lawyers, for them to disseminate as they see.
"Not even death will stop the avalanche that is coming," Warner said as his supporters cheered in celebration. "The die is cast. There can be no turning back. Let the chips fall where they fall."
Warner also said that when he heard Mr Blatter was stepping down, he wrote him to urge his immediate departure from Fifa.
"Blatter knows why he fell. And if anyone else knows, I do," Warner said.
FBI extends FIFA scrutiny to World Cup host bids of Russia, Qatar
Meanwhile an FBI official has disclosed that its investigation of bribery and corruption includes scrutiny of how soccer's governing body awarded World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar.
Russia and Qatar have denied wrongdoing in the conduct of their bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, which were not the subject of charges announced by US prosecutors a week ago against Fifa officials that stunned world soccer.
The US law enforcement official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the review of the bids would be part of a probe that goes beyond the indictments. Among issues the FBI is examining is the stewardship of Fifa by longtime president Sepp Blatter, who unexpectedly announced on Tuesday he was resigning shortly before it emerged that he too was under investigation by US law enforcement.
Authorities said last week that they were investigating a case of $150 million paid in bribes over two decades while Swiss prosecutors announced their own criminal inquiry into the 2018 and 2022 bids.
In the case of Qatar, there was some surprise that the tournament was awarded to a small desert country with no real soccer tradition and where daytime summer temperatures can top 40 degrees Celsius (104F).
Qatar's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said there was no way Qatar would be stripped of its right to host the World Cup because it had had the best bid.
"It is very difficult for some to digest that an Arab Islamic country has this tournament, as if this right can't be for an Arab state," he told Reuters in an interview in Paris. "I believe it is because of prejudice and racism that we have this bashing campaign against Qatar."
For its part, Russia dismissed concerns it might lose the right to host the cup. "Cooperation with FIFA is going on and, most importantly, Russia is continuing preparations for the 2018 World Cup," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
US authorities said last week that their announcement was the beginning and not the end of the investigation. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Department of Justice looked forward to continuing to work with other countries.