U.S. Moves to Drop Charges in International Soccer Corruption Case

Last edited Thu Dec 11, 2025, 08:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: New York Times

Hernán López, who was the chief executive of a unit that was responsible for developing Fox’s sports broadcasting business in Latin America, was convicted in 2023 of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. Prosecutors had said Mr. López conspired to pay off the heads of national federations to win the rights to broadcast two South American soccer tournaments.

But on Tuesday, Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, wrote in a letter to the judge who oversaw the case against Mr. López and the Argentine marketing firm convicted along with him, Full Play Group, that dismissing it was in the interest of justice.
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Mr. López’s conviction was vacated six months after the jury verdict by Judge Pamela K. Chen, who ruled that the federal wire fraud statute under which he was charged had been wrongfully applied. Her ruling cited a Supreme Court decision on that statute that was handed down after the trial ended.

But Judge Chen’s ruling was overturned in July, and the conviction against Mr. López and Full Play was reinstated, after a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided that the judge had erred.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/nyregion/soccer-corruption-charges-fox-employee.html