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Soccer-Blatter promises to root out any wrongdoing in football

ZURICH, May 27 (Reuters) - FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said he was determined to "root out any wrongdoing in football" after seven leading soccer officials were arrested on corruption charges by U.S. and Swiss authorities on Wednesday. Blatter, who is standing for re-election as FIFA president on Friday, added that the investigations will help to reinforce measures world soccer's governing body has already taken. "Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game," he added in a statement on FIFA's website (www.fifa.com). FIFA has provisionally banned the seven officials arrested on Wednesday from any football-related activities. The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil after the U.S. and Swiss authorities announced separate inquiries into the activities of soccer's ruling body. The seven powerful figures in global soccer faced extradition to the United States on corruption charges after their arrest in Switzerland. The Swiss authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups being hosted in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. U.S. authorities said nine soccer officials and five sports media and promotions executives faced corruption charges involving more than $150 million in bribes. (Writing by Ken Ferris; editing by Pritha Sarkar)