Ex-FIFA official pleads not guilty

The longtime former head of the Nicaraguan soccer federation who most recently was employed by FIFA pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges on Wednesday.

Julio Rocha, 65, entered the plea in Brooklyn federal court through his lawyer, William Sullivan.

Rocha was the last of seven men, including two FIFA vice-presidents, to be extradited after a raid last May in Zurich exposed what officials described as a sprawling bribery scheme that had infested the governing body of international soccer.