Six FIFA delegates have been arrested in Zurich by the FBI for extradition to the United States of America, just days before the international governing body's election process.

The arrests have come following allegations of corruption, according to officials.

Money laundering, racketeering and wire fraud are three of the charges that the six arrested face.

At 6AM on Wednesday, FBI agents raided the FIFA hotel and began the arrests of six high profile football officials, whom New York Times' reporter Matt Apuzzo called 'the big names in the soccer world'.

Football's international governing body had planned to hold their annual meeting on Friday May 29 where long-serving president Sepp Blatter will stand to be re-elected for the fifth time.

FIFA have faced controversial charges for the past five years with allegations of bribery coming thick and fast over how the small gulf state of Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup.

In 2014, the Sunday Times reported the story of bribery earning Qatar the tournament. FIFA denied these charges but the feeling of wariness about FIFA's dealings in the football world have never left.

At 8:30AM, BBC news confirmed four of the six officials arrested by the United States as Eduardo Li, Jose Maria Marin, Eugenio Figueredo as well as vice-president Jeffrey Webb. 

However, FIFA’s spokesman Walter de Gregorio told the Associated Press that president Sepp Blatter "is not involved at all.”

While the organisation sought clarification, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said, in a statement on Wednesday, that the United States have arrested the six officials based on suspicions of bribery worth more than $100m in the past 25 years, with the payment made in US bank accounts. The same Swiss authority told the press that they can immediately approve the extradition. 

Speaking to the BBC, sources revealed that Sepp Blatter's rival for the FIFA presidency, Prince Ali Bun Al-Hussein of Jordan, will meet on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the arrests and their impact on the election for the FIFA presidency on Friday.