Meet Chuck Blazer - the ex-Fifa official and parrot collector

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Chuck BlazerImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The US justice department alleges those arrested accepted bribes and kickbacks estimated at more than $150m (£97m) over a 24-year period

Another day, another revelation surrounding Fifa's corruption allegations.

The latest chapter in the story has seen former official Chuck Blazer admitting he and others on the executive committee agreed to accept bribes ahead of South Africa being named as the 2010 World Cup hosts.

The American also played a part in bribes surrounding the 1998 tournament.

But who is the man behind the latest admissions and impressive facial hair?

Image source, FRANK MAY
Image caption,
The US has launched a wide-ranging criminal case that engulfed Fifa and led President Sepp Blatter (right) to resign

Chuck Blazer served on Fifa's executive committee - the only American to do so - from 1997 until 2013.

He was one of four people who had already been charged for bribery, racketeering and money laundering ahead of 14 further arrests by US prosecutors last week.

For the last three years the former businessman has been telling US authorities what he knows about alleged corruption at the top of the game and used secret microphones in meetings to help the FBI in their investigations.

Blazer started working with agents from the IRS and FBI after they stopped him in the street in New York in 2013 while he was on his mobility scooter and gave him two options: to either be put in handcuffs or have him help with their investigation.

Oh, and he's also got a love for parrots...

Image source, Reuters
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Chuck Blazer's admissions emerged from a newly-released transcript from a 2013 US hearing
Image source, Chuck Blazer
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Vladimir Putin and Chuck Blazer together before the 2018 World Cup was awarded to Russia

In his now defunct blog, Travels with Chuck Blazer and his Friends..., he showed off a jet-setter lifestyle including pictures with legends of the game like Pele and Bobby Charlton and other high-profile names like Prince William and Hillary Clinton.

He also has two flats in the luxurious Trump Towers in New York - one for him and one for his cats.

The one his pets live in costs a reported £4,000 a month to rent.

He is also a big fan of fancy dress, with several images online of him at parties dressed as Father Christmas and a pirate.

Image source, facebook/Chuck blazer
Image source, Getty Images
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We're not entirely sure what Chuck was up to here during a trip to Germany in 2005
Image source, Chuck Blazer
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Chuck Blazer dresses up as Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars on Halloween in 2010

But despite his public profile as an outgoing socialite, a former colleague has labelled him as "corrupt from the get go".

Mel Brennan told the BBC: "There wasn't a single relationship that he had in world football that wasn't about garnering silent wealth unto himself and wasn't about - as a result - jeopardising the sport's ability to take care of the most vulnerable."

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