The world of football experienced a major shake up on Wednesday when the U.S. Department of Justice announced that several top officials at FIFA were arrested on federal charges.

The Justice Department says nine soccer officials are among 14 people indicted on corruption charges, which includes racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. So far, seven of the leading officials in football (also known as soccer) have been arrested in Zurich, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Switzerland have launched a separate criminal case investigating the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar.

In a press release, the DOJ detailed the charges against the high ranking sports officials.

"These individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games, where the games would be held, and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide," said U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, according to The New York Times.

Some of the men who U.S. prosecutors accuse of corruption have also been directly involved with organizing the FIFA World Cup.

The indictment also named sports-marketing executives from the United States and South America, who are accused of paying $151 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for the rights to host, televise and promote soccer tournaments. Authorities say that $110 million alone was used in effort to host the Copa América Centenario in the United States in 2016, reports CBS Sports.

One of the highest-ranking officials being charged is Jeffrey Webb, the president of CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, reports CNN. The Cayman Islands native also served as a vice president of FIFA and has been an executive FIFA committee member since 2012.

"This is the beginning of our effort, not the end," said Kelly T. Currie, acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "We are looking into individuals and entities in a variety of countries," she said, adding that the investigation would also look into the financial institutions that handled the tainted money to see if they were cognizant of the fraud.

Ironically, the news of the criminal charges come just days before FIFA President Sepp Blatter is up for re-election in hopes to assume his fifth term in the position.