• Corruption - Timeline of FIFA scandals

The United States Department of Justice presented new accusations in the ' FIFAGate ', the corruption scandal in professional soccer, which includes two former executives of the media conglomerate 21st Century Fox , the Spanish audiovisual production company Imagina Media Audiovisual (the 'holding' of Globomedia and Mediapro ) and the Uruguayan marketing company Full Play Group.

The Government presented a total of 53 new charges in the Brooklyn (New York) Federal Prosecutor's Office , where the entire process related to the 'FIFAGate', the largest corruption scandal in football history, has been carried out against Hernán López and Carlos Martínez, former executives of the American company Fox.

Also against Gerard Romy , former co-president of Imagina Media Audiovisual and founder of Mediapro , all for electronic fraud, money laundering and other related crimes, according to a statement from the Prosecutor's Office.

Romy and Full Play were charged in addition to an organized crime conspiracy , after an extensive investigation by the United States Government and prosecution for corruption in organized soccer, which has spanned several years.

The accusations include new charges against other defendants in this judicial process that have not yet been extradited, according to the statement.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, as established in the indictment, the new defendants used their positions in the world of international soccer to participate in plans that involve the request, offer, acceptance, payment and receipt of bribes , mainly to obtain transmission rights. lucrative for various international soccer tournaments and events.

The indictment cites Lopez and Martinez, who are responsible for the development and conduct of broadcast business for Fox in Latin America, joined Full Play and other conspirators in a plan that involved the annual payment of millions of dollars in bribes to officials of the South American Football Confederation , known as CONMEBOL , in exchange for the broadcasting rights of the Copa Libertadores , the most popular club tournament in the region, among other events.

The Prosecutor's Office also indicates in the accusation that López and Martínez trusted in the loyalty assured by paying bribes to certain CONMEBOL officials to obtain even confidential information on the bid for the broadcast rights of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup in the US . , rights that Fox successfully obtained.

De Romy , indicates that he was a high-ranking executive and shareholder of Imagina, a multinational private media conglomerate based in Barcelona , Spain, which owned several subsidiaries around the world, including in this country.

Likewise, the accusation indicates that Romy participated in strategies to pay millions of dollars to high-ranking officials of the Caribbean Football Union ( CFU ) and federations within the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), which operate under CONCACAF , to secure broadcasting rights for FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.

In connection with the CFU scheme, Romy and his conspirators allegedly agreed to pay Jeffrey Webb , a top CFU official and CONCACAF president, a three million dollar bribe.

The alleged bribe was in exchange for part of the contract for the marketing rights to the CFU World Cup qualifying matches for 2018 and 2022, according to authorities.

As for Full Play, a Uruguayan company based in Argentina and owned by defendants Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis, he allegedly participated in numerous strategies to pay bribes to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF officials, also in exchange for marketing rights for various events. , including World Cup qualifiers and friendly matches. According to the Prosecutor's Office, both defendants have not been arrested.

"The charges revealed today reflect the continued commitment of this office to eradicate corruption at the highest levels of international soccer and in companies dedicated to promoting and broadcasting the sport," the federal prosecutor for eastern New York said in the statement. , Richard P. Donoghue.

"Both companies and individuals must understand that regardless of their wealth or power, they will be brought to justice if they use the US financial system for corrupt purposes ," he said.

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