'Not guilty' pleas in FIFA case

Two prominent Latin American soccer officials pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in a New York court over their alleged roles in the corruption scandal engulfing the game's graft-mired world governing body, FIFA.

Rafael Callejas, who was president of Honduras from 1990 to 1994, and Juan Angel Napout, a FIFA vice-president and former president of the South American soccer confederation, CONMEBOL, are among a slew of current or former soccer officials charged with wrongdoing.

A total of 39 people and two companies have been charged by US authorities in connection with the multimillion-dollar corruption scandal that erupted at FIFA this year when Swiss officials swooped on a luxury hotel in Zurich.