BERN: The Swiss Federal Court has cleared the way for former Nicaraguan football official Julio Rocha to be extradited to the United States after rejecting his appeal to be sent to his home country, the court said in a statement on Monday.

Rocha, a former FIFA development officer and president of the Nicaraguan Football Federation, was among seven people arrested at a Zurich hotel a year ago in the US Department of Justice investigation into corruption surrounding FIFA.

Federal prosecutors in New York accuse Rocha of demanding and taking bribes of $150,000 in connection with the sale of marketing rights to World Cup qualifying games.

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