WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, will receive another US$92 million in compensation for losses sustained in global soccer corruption schemes, the US Justice Department said on Thursday.
In August last year, the department had said FIFA was going to receive US$201 million in compensation for the losses. The money was seized from the bank accounts of former officials who were involved in the schemes and then prosecuted following a probe into years of corruption in world soccer.
“This distribution of approximately US$92 million as compensation for losses suffered highlights the importance of asset forfeiture as a critical tool in this endeavour,” the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.
FIFA’s continental confederations CONCACAF, which governs the sport in North and Central America, and CONMEBOL, which oversees South America, were named among the victims in the Justice Department’s statement.
Since the department unveiled the corruption probe in 2015, more than 50 individual and corporate defendants from more than 20 different countries have faced charges, according to the DOJ, largely regarding bribes and kickbacks related to media and marketing rights.
“There was an extraordinary amount of money flowing between corrupt officials and businesses in this massive scheme,” Michael J Driscoll, assistant director in charge at the FBI’s New York Field Office, said in a statement.
“It is gratifying to know assets seized from the criminals involved will be distributed to groups in need of the money, one specifically focused on educating and safeguarding football for women and girls.”
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