FIFA has suspended an employee after he was reportedly arrested on suspicion of having sex with an underage boy while on a work trip in Miami.
The Miami Herald reported that Jack Edward Coles was detained Friday by federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations at a hotel near FIFA’s offices in the Coral Gables neighbourhood.
Coles, 39, who is British, 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.
Prison records on Thursday listed Coles as an inmate at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
“FIFA is aware of ongoing legal proceedings in Miami,” a FIFA statement seen by The Associated Press said. “The alleged offenses are serious and of a personal matter with no link to his work at FIFA.”
“The individual has been suspended with immediate effect and until further notice from all duties. FIFA has no further comment at this stage.”
Coles is a project leader with FIFA Sound, the department that organises music for the world football body’s events and broadcasts.
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.
