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Argentine sports marketing executives Hugo Jinkis and his son, Mariano Jinkis, have admitted to bribing international football officials to secure lucrative media rights deals as part of a settlement with United States prosecutors. The pair were charged following the major FIFA corruption investigation that began in 2015 and exposed widespread bribery involving football officials across several countries.
Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the Jinkises admitted to participating in a scheme that defrauded FIFA as well as the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). The agreement allows US prosecutors to drop the fraud charges against them, subject to their compliance with the terms of the deal.
As part of the settlement, the father and son have agreed to forfeit $50 million. Their case is connected to the wider corruption scandal that triggered arrests, prosecutions and convictions of numerous football officials and executives and significantly damaged FIFA’s reputation.
