WASHINGTON — Thabiso Sithole, a sports reporter with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, had just finished his Wednesday evening segment on the American indictments that had rocked international soccer when his cousin called.
“Who is this Loretta Lynch person?” she said.
Ms. Lynch, less than one month into her job as attorney general, captured the world’s attention this week when she vowed to rid FIFA, soccer’s governing body, of corruption. Her news conference this week was watched around the world and made her the face of the United States government’s crackdown on some of the world’s most influential soccer officials.