Two former executives of the American company Fox and the Argentine agency Full Play respond before the New York court as of this Tuesday for charges of corruption, bank fraud and money laundering, in the framework of the mega bribery scandal at FIFA that broke out in 2015 .
The Mexican Carlos Martínez and the Argentine Hernán López -both also with US nationality-, who worked at the company 21st Century Fox, and the Argentine sports marketing agency appear before Judge Pamela Chen in a trial that will last between four and six weeks in the Brooklyn court where other defendants have already been tried in the so-called ‘FIFAgate’, which shook the foundations of the international soccer gendarme in 2015.
With the selection of the jury that will determine the fate of the three defendants already done, the trial begins with the presentation of the arguments of the parties and the questioning of the first witnesses.
The defendants face maximum prison terms of 20 years.
The prosecution maintains that the three defendants participated in a scheme to pay bribes to Latin American soccer officials, in particular Conmebol, to secure lucrative broadcasting rights to Copa Libertadores and Copa América matches, as well as qualifying matches and friendlies for the World Cup.
According to US police, for more than twenty years, the defendants “corrupted” governance and international soccer with bribery and kickbacks, causing “significant damage to the sport of soccer.”
“Their schemes included the use of shell companies, bogus consulting contracts and other concealment methods to disguise bribes and kickback payments and make them appear legitimate,” it adds.
Also accused in the same case, among others, is the Spanish Gerard Romy, former president of the sports company Imagina, who has not appeared before the US justice system.
– Millionaire bribes –
The scandal known as ‘FIFAgate’ uncovered by the United States in May 2015 exposed a scheme of million-dollar bribes paid by sports marketing companies to soccer leaders in the Americas in exchange for rights to television broadcasts and promotion of tournaments.
The US Attorney’s Office has charged 45 people and several sports companies with more than 90 crimes and paying or accepting more than $200 million in bribes.
Of them, 27 pleaded guilty -four have died-, and half a dozen have been sentenced.
Three others pleaded not guilty and went to a historic trial in New York at the end of 2017: former Brazilian soccer boss José Marin and former Paraguayan soccer and Conmebol president Juan Ángel Napout were found guilty and jailed, while former soccer boss Peruvian Manuel Burga was acquitted.
Last September, the former president of the Salvadoran Soccer Federation, Reynaldo Vásquez, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for television rights to the selection of that country.
According to the Brooklyn court, Vásquez received, along with other Salvadoran soccer officials, $350,000 from an American company in exchange for the sale of the broadcast rights to the qualifying and friendly matches of the national team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
A dozen are still in their countries, where they were prosecuted by the local courts or are free while they fight extradition.
In addition, four companies pleaded guilty, two others reached deferred prosecution agreements and two others paid fines.
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