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Article snippet: Chuck Blazer, an American soccer official and bon vivant who was a central figure in the FIFA scandal that laid bare widespread corruption in international soccer, died at a New Jersey hospital on Wednesday. He was 72. Mr. Blazer’s death was confirmed by his New York lawyer, Mary Mulligan. The cause was rectal cancer, which he had had for years. Mr. Blazer was a large man with voracious appetites, not all of them in accordance with the law. On Nov. 25, 2013, as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into soccer-related improprieties that had started with his own failure to file a personal income tax return, he secretly pleaded guilty to 10 counts of criminal charges that included racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. The investigation reached the highest levels of FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, and became public in 2015 when surprise arrests were made in Switzerland, where FIFA has its headquarters and where authorities opened their own criminal investigation, now continuing. Mr. Blazer, a member of FIFA’s executive committee from 1997 to 2013, forfeited $1.9 million to the United States and cooperated with the authorities as a witness. His insider testimony assisted a far-reaching inquiry that ultimately touched several nations, predominantly in South and Central America. The American case grew to include more than 40 defendants — individuals and corporations. About half have pleaded guilty to date, with some set to stand trial this ... Link to the full article to read more