Categories: Sports

Ex-El Salvador soccer chief sentenced to 16 months in FIFA corruption case

NEW YORK (Reuters): The former president of El Salvador s soccer federation was sentenced on Thursday to 16 months in US prison after pleading guilty to a charge arising from a global soccer corruption probe involving the payment of bribes to stage and broadcast matches.

Reynaldo Vasquez, 66, the former president of the Federacion Salvadorena de Futbol (FESFUT), or the Salvadoran Football Federation, was sentenced by US District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn.

In pleading guilty last year to a racketeering conspiracy charge, Vasquez acknowledged receiving a $350,000 bribe in 2012 from Miami-based Media World, which brokers rights to broadcasts targeting Spanish speakers, to induce FESFUT to arrange media and marketing rights to qualifier matches for the 2018 World Cup.

Vasquez  case is part of a sprawling probe into corruption at FIFA, the world s soccer governing body, that has yielded 27 guilty pleas and two convictions at trial.

Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement that Vasquez and the other defendants “disgraced themselves by lining their pockets with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, at the expense of a beautiful sport.”

Vasquez led FESFUT in 2009 and 2010. FIFA banned him for life and fined him 500,000 Swiss francs ($512,610.21) in October 2019 after an internal ethics committee found him guilty of bribery.

The Frontier Post

Recent Posts

India deports Myanmar refugees who fled 2021 coup

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) : India on Thursday deported the first group of Myanmar refugees who…

10 mins ago

PHC stops NAB proceedings against Chinese company

Humayun Khan PESHAWAR: A divisional bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprised of Justice Ijaz…

9 hours ago

EU army may be unlikely but unity on defense a must

Khaled Abou Zahr An exhibition of Western military equipment captured from Ukrainian forces by Russia…

9 hours ago

How retail can regenerate historic districts

Fady Halim and Joe Rached The growth of GCC cities has been remarkable. Between 1970…

9 hours ago

The Middle East’s ‘1989 moment’

Faisal J. Abbas There were a hectic but fruitful few days in Riyadh this week…

9 hours ago

This website uses cookies.