Fox Sports used classified inside information to secure television rights to the World Cup in the United States in 2011, according to federal court testimony provided to the New York Times.
Justice Department witness Alejandro Burzaco, a former banker and sports marketing executive, has admitted to working as a middleman between FIFA and Fox, the latter successfully outbidding ESPN and NBC during an alleged blind auction. Fox has since broadcast the 2018 World Cup from Russia and the 2022 World Cup from Qatar. Likewise, Rupert Murdoch’s family of networks will broadcast the 2026 World Cup in North America.
As the Times reported, Burzaco testified on Friday that he was an intermediary between then-Fox International manager Hernán López and FIFA chief Julio Grondona.
“He said, ‘If Fox raises $400 million, it’s going to win,'” Burzaco said in federal court, citing Grondona.
Assistant US Attorney Megan Farrell at the podium, far right, questions government witness Alejandro Burzaco on the witness stand Wednesday
Fox eventually won the supposedly blind auction with a bid of $400 million.
Burzaco previously testified Wednesday that Lopez and Carlos Martinez, another Fox executive, conspired to bribe South American football officials for the television rights to the southern hemisphere’s largest annual tournament, the Copa Libertadores, and to help secure the broadcast rights to to obtain the sport’s most lucrative competition, the Copa Libertadores World Cup.
“The bribes served that purpose very well,” Burzaco testified.
Lawyers for Lopez and Martinez have claimed the former executives are being framed, with a defense attorney accusing Burzaco of orchestrating the bribes.
On his first day on the witness stand Wednesday, Burazco told the court about the bogus contracts made with football officials to channel the bribes.
He said the payments that Lopez and Martinez are accused of making to officials at the South American soccer confederation helped Fox edge out competitors and secure the rights to tournaments at below-market prices.
Alejandro Burzaco (C) exits the US District Courthouse in Brooklyn September 18, 2015 in New York. Burzaco was due to appear before a judge to stand trial on bribery and corruption charges linked to the massive FIFA scandal
Lopez, a native of Argentina, is a former CEO of Fox International Channels and later ran a podcasting company. Martinez, a native of Mexico, ran the channel’s Latin American subsidiary.
Another sports media and marketing company, Full Play Group SA, is on trial with Lopez and Martinez, but the bribery allegations against that company affect other TV rights. Full Play, incorporated in Uruguay, is accused of paying bribes for the rights to the Copa America, a four-year national team competition, and World Cup qualifiers.
=New York-based Fox Corp., which divested itself of a subsidiary of international broadcasters during a restructuring in 2019, has denied any involvement in the bribery scandal and has no defendants in the case.
The company said in a statement that it fully cooperated and respected the court process, noting that before the corporate reorganization, the international channels were part of what was then known as 21st Century Fox.
“This case involves a legacy business that has no connection to the new FOX Corporation,” the statement said.
As the Times reported, Burzaco testified on Friday that he was an intermediary between then-Fox International manager Hernán López and FIFA chief Julio Grondona (pictured).
So far, more than two dozen people have pleaded guilty and two people have been convicted in court in connection with a US-led investigation into tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks at the highest level of football. Four companies have also pleaded guilty. Four other companies were charged but made arrangements with the government to avoid prosecution.
The governing body of the football world, FIFA, said it was not involved in any fraud or conspiracy and was just a bystander as the scandal unfolded.
Still, the scandal has put the organization under global scrutiny. Since then she has been trying to polish her tarnished image.
Last month’s World Cup final in Qatar, in which Argentina defeated France in a dramatic penalty shoot-out, was the most-watched football match of all time in the United States, according to television viewers.
Former Fox executive Hernan Lopez (C) arrives at court in the Brooklyn borough of New York
During Tuesday’s opening arguments, Assistant US Attorney Victor Zapana told jurors millions of dollars in bribes fed a system of secret, no-offer contracts that “allowed disloyal football executives to live a life of luxury.”
Prosecutors allege that the payouts allowed Lopez and Martinez to get Fox confidential information from senior football officials, including those at FIFA, that allowed their $425 million bid to beat rival ESPN and grab the U.S. Secure broadcast rights for the world 2018 and 2022 mugs.
Burzaco is a former business partner of the two men and ran an Argentine marketing firm. He has cooperated in previous football corruption cases to avoid jail time, critics say, following his own bribery arrest in 2015.
Burzaco has pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy and other charges. He testified in 2017 that all three South Americans on the FIFA Executive Committee accepted millions of dollars in bribes to support Qatar’s bid for the recently concluded 2022 World Cup.