Tuesday, January 17, 2023 – 6:18 pm
This trial is one of the last blows of what is known as “FIFAGate”, which broke out in 2015
Two former executives of the US conglomerate 21 Century Fox and a Uruguayan sports marketing company are responding this Tuesday in a federal court in New York for their involvement in the corruption scandal of the International Football Federation (FIFA).
The Mexican Carlos Martínez and the Argentine Hernán López, who worked in the Fox business in Latin America, and the Full Play agency, are accused of numerous charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering in a process that began this Tuesday once Jury selection completed.
This trial is one of the last blows of what is known as “FIFAGate”, which broke out in 2015 and caused a serious crisis in world football by implicating more than forty senior officials, especially from the CONCACAF federations (North America, Central America and the Caribbean ) and CONMEBOL (South America).
The US Government brought “FIFAGate” to trial in 2017 and to date almost thirty people and four companies have pleaded guilty, while the most visible convictions are those of two former soccer directors, the Paraguayan Juan Ángel Napout and the Brazilian José María Marín.
But in 2020, the Department of Justice included in the case new charges against Martínez y López and Full Play Group, accused of paying bribes to directors of Latin American federations to obtain lucrative broadcasting rights in the Copa Libertadores, among other events.
The trial against Martínez and López has aroused special interest in the US because it can shed light on how much Fox – which sold its 21st Century Fox unit in 2019 – knew about the dubious practices of its executives to improve its international position.
Also implicated in the case is the Spanish Gerard Romy, linked to the company Imagina Media, of which he was co-chairman and shareholder, but who has not appeared before the US Justice.
Martínez and López, who pleaded not guilty in 2020, face up to 20 years in prison.
