Argentine pair in FIFA corruption scandal admit paying bribes

Two Argentine sports marketing executives embroiled in a huge FIFA corruption scandal admitted Thursday to bribing international football officials to secure lucrative media rights, as they struck a deal with US prosecutors to avoid trial.

Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, a father and son, were charged after a sprawling 2015 probe that rocked governing body FIFA and continental confederations for South and North America.

The US investigation, which included raids on FIFA officials in Zurich, led to a series of arrests, trials and subsequent convictions and guilty pleas.

Under a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), the US will drop fraud charges against the Jinkises, who admitted to devising a scheme that defrauded FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.

They also agreed to forfeit US$50 million as part of the deal.

The men "agreed to pay and did pay tens of millions of dollars in commercial bribes" to soccer executives in exchange for support "in their efforts to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to various soccer tournaments," according to a court filing.

The Jinkises, co-owners of Argentine sport marketing company Full Play, used bribes to secure media rights for matches including World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America, the document states.

– AFP