US abandons effort to uphold FIFA corruption verdicts
The United States authorities have decided to withdraw their proceedings against a previous Fox broadcasting leader linked to the FIFA graft affair that threw the global football organisation into turmoil.
On Tuesday, legal representatives informed the Supreme Court of their desire to cease the battle to maintain the guilty findings against Hernan Lopez and the Argentine sports promotion company Full Play.
Both received guilty verdicts in March 2023 for offering inducements to obtain valuable broadcast privileges from overseas football administrators. These verdicts were nullified on appeal shortly afterwards, only to be restored this July.
This matter formed part of numerous investigations stemming from a broad 2015 inquiry by the US Department of Justice, which eventually caused the ousting of FIFA president Sepp Blatter at that time.
In a submission to the Supreme Court, where Lopez sought examination of his guilty finding, the prosecutors stated that terminating the matter serves the "interests of justice", offering no additional explanation.
They requested the matter be sent back to an inferior court for official termination.
"I am thankful that the facts emerged victorious, and I am certain further aspects of those facts will surface," Lopez, holding citizenship in both the US and Argentina, posted on X on Tuesday evening.
Although no connection to Donald Trump was suggested, the American leader has granted a series of pardons, some involving graft linked crimes.
In February, he instructed the Department of Justice to suspend application of a longstanding statute that bars US firms from offering bribes to foreign government representatives to obtain commercial advantages.
Following his guilty verdict for plotting money laundering and plotting wire fraud, Lopez risked a sentence of up to 40 years imprisonment along with millions in fines.
In the courtroom proceedings, an American judge learned that the primary recipients of the illicit payments were six leading figures in South American football.
Among them were ex CONMEBOL leader Nicolas Leoz, who passed away in 2019, former Argentine football administrator Julio Grondona, deceased in 2014, and ex Brazilian football director Ricardo Teixeira.
The United States will co host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico in the coming year.
FIFA head Gianni Infantino has developed a close alliance with Trump in preparation for the tournament, recently presenting him with the organisations first "peace award" this month.