On Thursday, the US Department of Justice confirmed that FIFA, the African Football Confederation, the Confederation of the Americas, CONCACAF and various national federations have awarded an additional $92 million in damages.
In addition to the 201 million announced in August for wrongdoing by former global game officials.
And the Federal Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, announced in a statement “an additional distribution of approximately $92 million to compensate for losses incurred by (FIFA), the world football organization, CONCACAF (Central and North America and the Caribbean). ), and CONMEBOL and various national football federations referred to as “victims”.
Brooklyn Attorney General Bron Pace praised the action, which “demonstrates our commitment to recovering money generated from corruption and fraud (…) to be reused for the good of the sport.”
He recalled that in the context of the FIFA gate scandals, the US judiciary was investigating “more than 50 individuals and entities from 20 countries.”
The first spark of a corruption case flared up in May 2015, when seven world football leaders were arrested in Zurich, leading a few months later to the departure of Swiss Joseph Blatter, president of FIFA since 1998, to be replaced by Swiss Joseph Blatter. his compatriot Gianni Infantino.
At the center of the scandal was a system of bribery and “extortion” organized by football officials in South and Central America in exchange for the provision of television rights to competitions, including the America’s Cup.
The FIFA scandals led to nine years in prison for former CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Naputa and four years for former Brazilian federation president José María Marín.
Source: AFP