Two Argentine sports marketing executives at the centre of the long-running FIFA corruption scandal have admitted paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to football officials in exchange for lucrative media and marketing rights.
Hugo Jinkis and his son, Mariano Jinkis, reached a deferred prosecution agreement with United States prosecutors on Thursday, allowing them to avoid a criminal trial. As part of the agreement, the pair have agreed to forfeit $50 million. The arrangement relates to a corruption case that dates back to the sweeping investigation into international football that erupted in 2015.
According to a court filing, the Jinkises admitted that they and their associates paid substantial commercial bribes to football executives to secure support for obtaining valuable broadcasting and marketing rights to international tournaments. Their company, Full Play, was involved in the sports marketing business and sought rights to competitions including FIFA World Cup qualifying matches and the Copa América.
The latest development brings renewed attention to one of the most damaging corruption scandals in the history of world football. The investigation exposed allegations that officials within FIFA and its continental confederations accepted bribes and kickbacks in connection with commercial rights, particularly broadcasting and marketing agreements.
The Jinkises were among the individuals charged when the US investigation became public in May 2015. At the time, prosecutors alleged that Full Play had participated in schemes involving bribes to officials of CONMEBOL, the governing body for South American football, and CONCACAF, which oversees football in North, Central America and the Caribbean. The alleged payments were intended to secure commercial rights to major tournaments and matches.
The scale of the wider investigation was considerable. US authorities eventually brought criminal charges against more than 50 individuals and companies from more than 20 countries. The cases resulted in numerous guilty pleas and convictions, while several corporate defendants entered agreements with prosecutors and agreed to substantial financial penalties.
The Jinkises’ case is particularly significant because of the commercial value of the rights involved. International football tournaments generate enormous revenues through television deals, sponsorships and related commercial agreements. Control over those rights can therefore provide sports marketing companies with access to highly profitable markets. US prosecutors have previously alleged that companies involved in the scandal used illicit payments to gain an advantage in securing such contracts.
Full Play was identified by US authorities as an Argentine sports marketing company owned by Hugo and Mariano Jinkis. Court documents from the investigation describe schemes involving media and marketing rights for World Cup qualifiers, Copa América tournaments and other major football events.
The latest agreement does not amount to a conventional criminal conviction. Under the deferred prosecution arrangement, US prosecutors have agreed to drop the fraud charges if the defendants comply with the conditions of the agreement. The $50 million forfeiture, however, represents a substantial financial consequence for the pair.
The development also serves as a reminder that the legal fallout from the 2015 FIFA scandal has continued for more than a decade. Although several major cases have already resulted in convictions and settlements, the investigation has continued to produce new legal developments.
For FIFA and the wider football administration, the episode is another uncomfortable reminder of the problems that surrounded the awarding of lucrative commercial rights. The latest admissions do not by themselves establish wrongdoing by FIFA’s current leadership, but they add another chapter to a scandal that fundamentally changed the way corruption and financial governance in international football are scrutinised.
The Jinkises’ agreement therefore closes another part of the long-running legal saga while bringing renewed attention to the mechanisms through which commercial influence and illicit payments became intertwined in international football.
