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FIFA
bribery trial due to kick off in New York court
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 [November 07, 2017]
By Brendan Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than two
years after U.S. prosecutors unveiled a sweeping corruption case
that rocked FIFA, soccer's world governing body, three former
officials linked to the organization are due to face trial on graft
charges on Monday in a New York court.
Selection of jurors is scheduled to begin before U.S. District Judge
Pamela Chen in Brooklyn. On trial Manuel Burga, former president of
Peru's soccer federation; José Maria Marin, the former president of
Brazil's soccer federation; and Juan Ángel Napout, formerly
president of the South American soccer governing body CONMEBOL and
of Paraguay's soccer federation.
U.S. prosecutors have accused the three of taking bribes and
kickbacks in connection with the sale of media and marketing rights
to Copa America and Copa Libertadores tournaments, international
competitions organized by CONMEBOL.
The trial is part of a sweeping criminal probe in which U.S.
prosecutors have charged 42 people and entities. Prosecutors have
described a widespread culture of corruption around the awarding of
media and marketing rights to soccer games throughout the world.
Burga, Marin and Napout are the first of the people charged to go to
trial.
Twenty-four people have pleaded guilty, most of them since the probe
was announced in May 2015, though the first pleas came in 2013. The
charges against one of those people, U.S. soccer official Charles
Blazer, were voided after his death in July.
"After waiting two years, Mr. Napout looks forward to his day in
court," Napout's lawyer, Silvia Pinera-Vazquez, said on Friday.
Charles Stillman, a lawyer for Marin, and Bruce Udolf, a lawyer for
Burga, declined to comment.
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The logo of FIFA is seen in front of its headquarters in Zurich,
Switzerland September 26, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Among the defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case are Jeffrey
Webb, a former FIFA vice president and president of CONCACAF, the
governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the
Caribbean; and José Hawilla, accused of paying bribes to secure
contracts for his sports marketing company, Traffic Group.
In October, Costas Takkas, described by prosecutors as Webb's
attache, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Hector Trujillo, a
former secretary general of the Guatemalan soccer federation, was
sentenced to eight months.
Other defendants have not been extradited to the United States.
Sepp Blatter, who served as FIFA's president from 1998 until he was
suspended in late 2015, was not charged in the case.
Authorities in Switzerland, where FIFA is based, said in October
that they were investigating potential bribery around media rights
for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder
and Tom Brown)
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