WORLD SOCCER OFFICIALS INDICTMENT CHARGES

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a 47-count indictment charging 14 world soccer figures, including officials of FIFA, with racketeering, wire fraud,  bribery, kickbacks, money laundering, money laundering conspiracies, undisclosed and illegal payments

The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and in the United States. It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.  As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

FIFA is composed of 209 member associations, each representing organized soccer in a particular nation or territory, including the United States and four of its overseas territories. FIFA also recognizes six continental confederations that assist it in governing soccer in different regions of the world. The U.S. Soccer Federation is one of 41 member associations of the confederation known as CONCACAF, which has been headquartered in the United States throughout the period charged in the indictment. The South American confederation, called CONMEBOL, is also a focus of the indictment.

As alleged in the indictment, FIFA and its six continental confederations, together with affiliated regional federations, national member associations and sports marketing companies, constitute an enterprise of legal entities associated in fact for purposes of the federal racketeering laws. The principal – and entirely legitimate – purpose of the enterprise is to regulate and promote the sport of soccer worldwide.

As alleged in the indictment, one key way the enterprise derives revenue is to commercialize the media and marketing rights associated with soccer events and tournaments. The organizing entity that owns those rights – as FIFA and CONCACAF do with respect to the World Cup and Gold Cup, their respective flagship tournaments – sells them to sports marketing companies, often through multi-year contracts covering multiple editions of the tournaments. The sports marketing companies, in turn, sell the rights downstream to TV and radio broadcast networks, major corporate sponsors and other sub-licensees who want to broadcast the matches or promote their brands. The revenue generated from these contracts is substantial: according to FIFA, 70% of its $5.7 billion in total revenues between 2011 and 2014 was attributable to the sale of TV and marketing rights to the 2014 World Cup.

The Racketeering Conspiracy

The indictment alleges that, between 1991 and the present, the defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the enterprise by engaging in various criminal activities, including fraud, bribery and money laundering. Two generations of soccer officials abused their positions of trust for personal gain, frequently through an alliance with unscrupulous sports marketing executives who shut out competitors and kept highly lucrative contracts for themselves through the systematic payment of bribes and kickbacks. All told, the soccer officials are charged with conspiring to solicit and receive well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for their official support of the sports marketing executives who agreed to make the unlawful payments.

Most of the schemes alleged in the indictment relate to the solicitation and receipt of bribes and kickbacks by soccer officials from sports marketing executives in connection with the commercialization of the media and marketing rights associated with various soccer matches and tournaments, including FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF region, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the jointly organized CONMEBOL/CONCACAF Copa América Centenario, the CONMEBOL Copa América, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, which is organized by the Brazilian national soccer federation (CBF). Other alleged schemes relate to the payment and receipt of bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sponsorship of CBF by a major U.S. sportswear company, the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 FIFA presidential election.

The Indicted Defendants

As set forth in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators fall generally into three categories: soccer officials acting in a fiduciary capacity within FIFA and one or more of its constituent organizations; sports media and marketing company executives; and businessmen, bankers and other trusted intermediaries who laundered illicit payments.

List of 47 Counts

1. Count 1: Racketeering Conspiracy
2. Count 2: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
3. Count 3: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
4. Count 4: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
5. Count 5: Money Laundering Conspiracy
6. Count 6: Money Laundering
7. Count 7: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
8. Count 8: Money Laundering Conspiracy
9. Count 9: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
10. Count 10: Wire Fraud
11. Count 11: Wire Fraud
12. Count 12: Money Laundering Conspiracy
13. Count 13: Money Laundering
14. Count 14: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
15. Count 15: Wire Fraud
16. Count 16: Money Laundering Conspiracy
17. Count 17: Money Laundering
18. Count 18: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
19. Count 19: Wire Fraud
20. Count 20: Wire Fraud
21. Count 21: Money Laundering Conspiracy
22. Count 22: Money Laundering
23. Count 23: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
24. Count 24: Money Laundering Conspiracy
25. Count 25: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
26. Count 26: Wire Fraud
27. Count 27: Wire Fraud
28. Count 28: Wire Fraud
29. Count 29: Money Laundering Conspiracy
30. Count 30: Money Laundering
31. Count 31: Money Laundering Conspiracy
32. Count 32: Money Laundering
33. Count 33: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
34. Count 34: Wire Fraud
35. Count 35: Wire Fraud
36. Count 36: Wire Fraud
37. Count 37: Money Laundering Conspiracy
38. Count 38: Money Laundering
39. Count 39: Wire Fraud Conspiracy
40. Count 40: Money Laundering Conspiracy
41. Count 41: Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization
42. Count 42: Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns
43. Count 43: Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns
44. Count 44: Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns
45. Count 45: Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns
46. Count 46: Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns
47. Count 47: Obstruction of Justice