Washington, July 21 (RHC)-- The first of seven FIFA officials being held in Switzerland on corruption charges has been extradited to the United States.

The extradition follows the opening of U.S. Senate hearings to investigate the corruption scandal that has thrown the world soccer governing body into turmoil.

U.S. lawmakers questioned how much U.S. soccer officials knew about the corruption, and demanded an overhaul of the global organization. Senator Richard Blumenthal compared FIFA to the Mafia.

Blumenthal said: "The fact of the matter is that what has been revealed so far is a Mafia-style crime syndicate in charge of this sport. My only hesitation in using that term is that it is almost insulting to the Mafia, because the Mafia would never have been so blatant, overt and arrogant."