NEW YORK (AP) - Chuck Blazer, the pioneering American soccer executive who admissions of corruption set off a global scandal that ultimately toppled FIFA President Sepp Blatter, has died. He was 72.
Blazer's death was announced Wednesday by his lawyers, Eric Corngold and Mary Mulligan. At a November 2013 court hearing during which Blazer entered guilty pleas to federal charges, Blazer said he had rectal cancer, diabetes and coronary artery disease.
With huge girth, charm, wit and a pet parrot, Blazer cut a large figure as he made deals from an office and apartment in Trump Tower. The No. 2 official in the governing body of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region from 1990-2011 and a member of FIFA's ruling executive council from 1997-2013, Blazer was central to the rise of the sport in the United States.