Two Argentine sports marketing executives have admitted their involvement in the major FIFA corruption case that shook world football in 2015.
Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis admitted in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, that they paid tens of millions of dollars in commercial bribes to football officials.
The payments helped them secure valuable broadcast and marketing rights in football.
However, the pair have reached a deferred prosecution agreement with US federal prosecutors. This means they can avoid a formal criminal trial over the case.
US authorities have agreed to dismiss the wire fraud conspiracy charges by September 2027 if both men maintain clean criminal records.
The charges could otherwise carry prison sentences of up to 20 years.
Hugo, 81, and Mariano, 51, will still have to pay a heavy financial price. As part of the settlement, they will forfeit more than $50 million.
US prosecutors said the case showed how football officials and sports marketing executives worked together to make money through illegal deals.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the enterprise by engaging in various criminal activities, including fraud, bribery and money laundering.
