Key witness in FIFA corruption probe to be sentenced in U.S.

A former Argentine businessman whose testimony contributed to the U.S. convictions of South American soccer officers and a tv govt within the sprawling investigation into corruption at FIFA is about to be sentenced on Friday.

Alejandro Burzaco, the previous head of Argentine sports activities advertising and marketing firm Torneos y Competencias, pleaded responsible in 2015 to 3 counts of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and cash laundering conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.

Neither the small print of his plea settlement nor prosecutors’ really useful sentence are public. U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen is anticipated to find out Burzaco’s sentence at a listening to in Brooklyn federal courtroom beginning at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). Burzaco, 58, admitted to paying bribes and kickbacks to officers at world soccer governing physique FIFA and regional associates for advertising and marketing rights to tournaments together with the World Cup and Copa America. He has additionally stated that Qatar bribed FIFA officers to host the 2022 World Cup, which the Middle Eastern nation denies. His plea stemmed from a sweeping probe of corruption in international soccer that has resulted in scores of convictions since U.S. and worldwide authorities made their first arrests in 2015.

At a trial in 2017, Burzaco advised jurors that he paid bribes to Juan Angel Napout, the previous head of South American governing physique CONMEBOL, former Brazilian soccer chief Jose Maria Marin, and former Peru soccer federation president Manuel Burga to safe rights to matches.

Napout and Marin have been convicted and Burga was discovered not responsible.

Burzaco additionally testified on the trial this 12 months of Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez, two former twenty first Century Fox executives accused of bribing soccer officers for broadcasting rights. Lopez and sports activities advertising and marketing firm Full Play Group SA have been convicted and Martinez was acquitted.