FIFA: Former 21st Century Fox executive guilty of bribing officials

A former 21st Century Fox executive faces up to 40 years in prison in the United States after being found guilty by a New York court of bribing Concacaf and Conmebol officials.

After nearly two months of hearings, in federal court in Brooklyn, Hernán López was found guilty of fraud, “laundering” and bribery of FIFA and South American Confederation (Conmebol) officials, according to a press release issued to publicity from the American Justice. At the same time, Argentina’s marketing company, Full Play, was also convicted on the same charges, having been found to be a corporate entity that corrupted officials of the Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean (Concacaf). It was about acquiring the rights to televise the Copa Libertadores and the friendlies and qualifiers of the American national teams for international competitions.

“Today’s verdict sounds like a victory for Justice and football fans around the world. The defendants were defrauded by corrupt football officials, acting in their own greedy interests and not in the interest of sport“, said the federal prosecutor of the federal government of New York, with jurisdiction in Brooklyn, Brian Peace.

During the discussions, Argentine businessman Alejandro Burtaco testified after pleading guilty to involvement in the corruption scandal that rocked FIFA in 2015 under Sepp Blatter.

The witness accused Lopez and his 21st Century Fox colleague Carlos Martinez of paying “$30 to $32 million” in bribes. However, Martinez was acquitted, a spokesman for the Brooklyn court said.

Lopez, risks being sentenced to “40 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines”, according to the court in Brooklyn, while Full Play will be required to pay a fine of millions of dollars.

Prosecution witness Burthako claimed in court in January that $60 million in bribes had been budgeted, but the FIFAgate revelations in 2015 stopped the payments.