World Cup Bribery Convictions at Risk as US Seeks Dismissals

US prosecutors won dozens of convictions in a sprawling, decade-long crackdown on corruption linked to international soccer’s biggest tournament. Now, with World Cup games set to start in two weeks across North America, there are signs those cases could crumble.

A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York — about 13 miles from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey that will host FIFA’s World Cup final in July — is slated on Wednesday to hear the Trump administration explain why it wants to drop charges against two convicted defendants. She’s also going to listen to dismissal bids by four others caught up in the bribery scandal.

How those requests are resolved by US District Judge Pamela Chen, who has presided over all the prosecutions since 2015, could lead to the unraveling of cases against dozens of others who already lost their appeals but see a new avenue for review. It also could put at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution won by the government that some defendants want to claw back.

“The one thing these prosecutions achieved is prove that soccer’s power brokers could be investigated and prosecuted just like drug cartel bosses,” said Jodi Balsam, a professor at Brooklyn Law School in New York who specializes in sports law. Now, FIFA “may be managing to escape any meaningful punishment or criminal liability, using the very process that was meant to clean up the sport,” she said.

US prosecutors exposed a sprawling fraud at the highest levels of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, including a 24-year long conspiracy to bribe high-ranking officials with six-figure sums for broadcast and media rights. Criminal charges were filed against more than 50 individuals and corporate defendants from at least 20 countries, resulting in guilty pleas by more than 30 people and entities, and the trial convictions of three people and one corporation.

Soccer Bosses

The case was unveiled to great fanfare in May 2015 after authorities executed a dawn raid at a five-star hotel in Switzerland, arresting soccer bosses and businessmen who gathered for an annual meeting. It brought down some of the biggest names in the sport, including Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, who was ousted as FIFA’s president after 17 years.

Tens of millions of dollars in forfeited funds and financial penalties were paid to the US government as part of the prosecutions, with at least $201 million paid to victims including broadcasters and some of FIFA’s six continental confederations.

But US Solicitor General John Sauer told the US Supreme Court in December that the government was no longer going to pursue criminal cases against Hernan Lopez, the former chief executive officer of Fox International Channels, and Full Play Group SA, an Argentine marketing company. They were found guilty at trial in 2023, and their convictions were unanimously upheld by a federal appellate panel in July.

Sauer’s statement came a month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited President Donald Trump at the White House and days after the soccer organization awarded Trump the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize.”

Separately, Brooklyn US Attorney Joseph Nocella in December told Chen the Justice Department would seek to dismiss charges against Lopez and Full Play Group “in the interests of justice,” a move that would only apply to those two and not others. Nocella later said the department has determined it would not commit further resources to the Lopez and Full Play Group case.

However, the judge has insisted that the government on Wednesday explain its rationale, saying she “will require a statement of reasons and underlying factual basis.” Chen said she wants government lawyers and others to describe what the impact of dismissing these convictions would have on FIFA cases and the restitution paid by defendants.

‘Unusual Change’

One victim has already expressed opposition to any dismissals and the government’s “unusual change of position.” GolTV, an American TV sports channel dedicated to soccer, argued trial evidence showed it lost millions of dollars in potential revenue after bribes were paid to ensure broadcasting rights for certain tournaments were awarded to Fox.

The judge has also agreed to hear from four others seeking dismissals, including Jose Maria Marin, the former head of Brazilian soccer, and his co-defendant Juan Angel Napout, former head of FIFA’s South America’s soccer federation CONMEBOL. Both served time in prison and paid more than $4 million in fines after being convicted of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering charges in 2017. Both lost earlier court appeals.

The other two are Eduardo Li, a former FIFA official who pleaded guilty to racketeering and corruption, and Alfredo Hawit, a former former president of CONCACAF, FIFA’s confederation for for North and Central America and the Caribbean, who pleaded guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes tied to a scheme to sell marketing rights to tournaments in Latin America including World Cup qualifying events. Hawit was ordered to pay about $1 million in restitution while Li paid the US almost $2 million. Both were sentenced to time already served behind bars.

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