The former president of the Salvadoran football federation, Reynaldo Vasquez, was sentenced on Thursday to 16 months in prison by the American courts, for having received bribes in the context of the "Fifagate" affair.
Vasquez, 66, pleaded guilty to these corruption charges after his extradition in January 2021.
U.S. prosecutors say he and other federation executives or former officials received around $350,000 in bribes related to the sale of broadcast and marketing rights to El Salvador's World Cup qualifiers 2018 as well as friendly meetings.
“The accused and his co-conspirators, motivated by greed, dishonored themselves by lining their pockets with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, at the expense of a beautiful sport, the Salvadoran Football Federation and the community it served,” Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Found guilty by Fifa in 2019
“Vasquez must now be held to account, like the many other corrupt football officials who have been exposed by the government investigation,” he added.
Boss of Salvadoran football from June 2009 to July 2010, he was charged in November 2015, along with dozens of other leaders, in the so-called "Fifagate" affair, which notably led to the fall of the president of world football governing body Sepp Blatter.
In early October 2019, he was found guilty of corruption by Fifa, suspended for life from all football-related activity and fined 500,000 Swiss francs (about $490,000).
He was also sentenced in March 2017 to eight years in prison by a court in his country for embezzlement of around 400,000 dollars in social security contributions.
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