Today, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and officials with the FBI, the District Attorney’s office for Eastern New York, and the IRS came together on a superseding indictment charging a number of high-ranking world soccer officials on bribery and racketeering charges.
Many of you have read about these allegations through this blog entry. In it, we mention some of the marketing arms that have been involved in the crimes that are alleged in what is now a 92-count indictment against a number of individuals. These include the current or former presidents of the national soccer federations of Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru.
Too, the indictments involve the current presidents of both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, the two soccer federations that cover the Western Hemisphere. Worse, the indictments also name the two immediate past presidents of each federation.
But if there is one name that caught my eye, it’s the name of Alejandro Burzaco, former general manager and chairman of Torneos y Compentencias. TyC is not only a marketing company, it is also a sports network in Argentina that you can access through some Spanish-language cable packages.
But TyC is also virtually the only network that shows field hockey on a regular basis. In particular, the company markets the Argentine Leonas, your current FIH Champions’ Trophy holders.
Now, it’s not known whether the kind of back-channel gladhanding and bribery detailed in the FIFA indictments has ever stained field hockey. But when one of the sport’s most prominent media allies gets wrapped up in this enterprise, one does have to ask questions.
Some answers in the FIFA side of this have already come in the form of plea deals. Eight were announced today, including that of Jeffrey Webb, who was second-in-command with CONCACAF. Between his plea deal and that of Chuck Blazer, the former General Secretary of the confederation, I think a lot of questions are going to be coming in the next few weeks.
These questions will involve television networks such as BeIN, Fox and ESPN. They’ll involve equipment manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas, and Umbro. They’ll involve officials with Major League Soccer, the North American Soccer League, and the United Soccer Leagues.
I find it interesting that today’s announcements did not mention any North American officials — none from Canada, the United States, or Mexico. And none from Caribbean nations, either. Or, for that matter, Europe, Africa, Asia, or Oceania.
Knowing what I know about U.S. government investigations run by the FBI and the IRS, today’s announcement is just one step in a long process. Anyone not yet mentioned in the indictments cannot relax — whether it is the capo di tutti capi Sepp Blatter, or American figures in the sport such as Don Garber, Sunil Gulati, or Phil Knight.
Stay tuned. And get the popcorn ready.
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