FIFA staffer reportedly arrested in Miami in alleged underage sex case

The Miami skyline is viewed from the Rickenbacker Causeway in South Florida, Dec. 15, 2023. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP) (Pedro Portal/AP)

MIAMI (AP) — A staffer at FIFA has reportedly been arrested in Miami on suspicion of having sex with an underage boy while on a work trip from Zurich.

“FIFA is aware of ongoing legal proceedings in Miami in relation to a private matter of a person that is employed by FIFA,” the world soccer body said in a statement Wednesday. “FIFA has no further comment at this stage.”

The Miami Herald reported Jack Coles was detained Friday by federal agents from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations at a hotel near FIFA’s offices in the Coral Gables neighborhood.

Coles is a project leader with FIFA Sound, the department that organizes music for the soccer body’s events and broadcasts.

Coles, who is British and reported to be aged 39, is alleged to have met a 14-year-old boy through a men’s dating app last October, and allegedly tried to meet with him again last week. The boy reportedly told the FIFA staffer he was 16, and was later in contact with federal investigators.

FIFA opened a United States base in Coral Gables in 2023 ahead of two major tournaments being hosted in the country. It also moved its legal department there from headquarters in Zurich.

The first 32-team Club World Cup being played in 11 U.S. cities opens June 14 in Miami, when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami plays Al Ahly of Egypt at the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium.

The U.S. stages most of the 104 games at the men’s 2026 World Cup it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 next year. The Miami stadium will have seven games.

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The Associated Press