NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Two Argentine sports marketing executives have admitted to bribing FIFA officials in exchange for lucrative media rights to football tournaments, agreeing to forfeit $50 million as part of a deal with United States prosecutors to avoid trial, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday.
The admissions mark the latest development in a long-running corruption investigation into international football’s governing body, which has ensnared dozens of executives and marketing officials over the past decade.
The executives, whose identities were confirmed in court documents, acknowledged paying bribes to FIFA officials to secure exclusive media and marketing rights for tournaments, including Copa América and other competitions that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in global broadcasting revenue. The scheme allegedly allowed the executives to obtain rights at below-market rates, depriving football governing bodies of legitimate income and enriching themselves and their co-conspirators.
The case was prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice, which has led a sweeping investigation into corruption within FIFA since 2015. The investigation has resulted in more than 50 criminal convictions and the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in assets tied to bribery, kickbacks, and money laundering schemes involving football officials from across the globe.
As part of the agreement, the Argentine executives agreed to the forfeiture of $50 million in assets as restitution for their roles in the scheme. The terms of the deal also require their cooperation with ongoing investigations, with the prospect of reduced sentencing should they provide substantial assistance to prosecutors.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the systemic corruption that plagued FIFA during the tenure of former president Sepp Blatter, who was himself banned from football for six years over ethics violations. The Argentine executives’ admissions are expected to shed further light on the inner workings of the media rights market, which has long been identified as a vulnerability in international football governance due to the lack of transparency and oversight in the awarding of contracts.
Neither FIFA nor the Argentine Football Association have issued immediate responses to the court filings.
The US Department of Justice has emphasised that its investigation into corruption in international football remains active, with prosecutors continuing to pursue leads in jurisdictions across the world. For the Argentine executives, the admissions mark the end of a lengthy legal process that could have resulted in protracted trials and potentially severe penalties had they not reached an agreement with prosecutors. For FIFA, the case serves as a reminder of the governance failures that continue to shadow the organisation, despite sweeping reforms introduced in the wake of the 2015 scandal.
