El Salvador court approves extradition of former soccer boss to U.S

[December 10, 2015]  SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the extradition of the country's former soccer federation president, Reynaldo Vasquez, who is wanted in the United States in connection with a probe targeting alleged corruption in the sport.

Supreme Court judge Sidney Blanco said the extradition order was approved by 15 judges after an arrest warrant from the United States that had been missing was added to the file.

Court documents last week showed that heads of the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF associations which run soccer in the Western Hemisphere and others with top jobs in world governing body FIFA were charged with current and former chiefs of Brazil's Football Confederation (CBF), which hosted the 2014 World Cup finals.

Vasquez, who headed the Salvadoran soccer federation FESFUT between 2009 and 2010, is wanted in connection with five cases of alleged bribery linked to commercial deals for the broadcasting of qualifiers for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

In interviews with local media, Vasquez has described the allegations as "absurd" and said he was taking legal advice. He was not immediately available for comment after the court's announcement.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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