I'm in the same boat. I get prosecuting the US citizens who paid bribes (long history there), but I don't get how the US can go after foreign nationals not on US soil for something that was done outside the US and not an attack on the US. I really don't understand why a country would extradite them in the first place.

We can get FIFA, but we cannot get Roman Polanski?

> I don't get how the US can go after foreign nationals not on US soil for something that was done outside the US and not an attack on the US.

Here:

(1) Several of the charged principals are US persons (individuals or corporations),

(2) All of the other principals are charged with conspiracy with the charged US persons,

(3) Several of the charged acts took place in the US or by means of US institutions,

(4) Several of the charged persons, and the various properties allegedly illegally acquired through the illegal acts and against which criminal forfeiture is sought, are within the US.

(5) Also, the main charges are not paying bribes, but receiving/profiting from the bribes (constituting fraud against various organizations, money laundering to conceal the proceeds, etc.)

> ...but I don't get how the US can go after foreign nationals not on US soil for something that was done outside the US and not an attack on the US.

Some combination of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (where a company can be prosecuted in the US for bribing officials abroad) mixed with RICO. The RICO part might not even be necessary, but it would allow them to go after anyone in the organization if they felt like it. I'm betting Blatter is sweating bullets right now.

I had to go through FCPA training for my employer a while ago, so take all this with a grain of salt:

As I understand it, the FCPA covers U.S. companies and their foreign affiliates and companies/organizations that trade securities in the U.S. If any employee or agent of such an organization bribes a foreign official, the DOJ or the SEC can go after them. "Foreign official" is defined really broadly as well. It includes foreign government employees, but also employees of international agencies and employees of government-managed industries (like doctors working for a state university hospital.) Also, the payment has to be illegal and not just "grease" money to speed up an ordinary task.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, but the DOJ might be able to draw a line from various U.S. individuals to various FIFA board members or from US Soccer to FIFA itself depending on how broad the definitions are. If they get that second one, everybody on FIFA's board is screwed.

The details don't actually matter. The impression is that doing business in the US is risky for your personal safety. Look at Bitcoin start-ups. Look at Silent Circle who have moved to Switzerland. The uncertainty of the rule of law and perception of draconian punishment will hurt the US economy in the long-run.

If someone has reason to be scared of being next in line after an organization that has apparently committed massive fraud affecting a large number of people for decades, I'm quite fine with that someone staying out of the US. IMHO, Silent Circle and Bitcoin startups are really a separate issue.

> Some combination of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (where a company can be prosecuted in the US for bribing officials abroad) mixed with RICO.

RICO is cited in the indictment, along with wire fraud and money laundering statutes; FCPA is not.

They used US banks for the bribery transactions.

> What I don't get what does the DOJ have to do with FIFA?

DOJ has a lot to do with bribery by US persons (natural persons and corporations), and criminal conspiracies involving such bribery (even if not all the principals are US persons), and criminal conspiracies making heavy use of US financial institutions.