FIFA corruption pair admit paying bribes

Argentine sports marketing executives Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis admitted Thursday to paying bribes to international soccer officials to secure media rights, under a deal with US prosecutors to avoid trial.

The father and son were charged after a 2015 US investigation into corruption that affected FIFA and soccer confederations in South and North America.

Under a deferred prosecution agreement, US prosecutors will drop fraud charges against the Jinkises. The pair admitted to devising a scheme that defrauded FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, and agreed to forfeit $50 million.

A court filing said the Jinkises “agreed to pay and did pay tens of millions of dollars in commercial bribes” to soccer executives in exchange for support in obtaining media and marketing rights to soccer tournaments.

The filing said the Jinkises, co-owners of Argentine sports marketing company Full Play, used bribes to secure media rights for matches including World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America.