Friday, May 29, 2026 - A federal judge has officially dismissed criminal charges against a former media executive and an Argentine sports marketing firm involved in a high-profile, yearslong soccer corruption case.
The dismissal came after the US Justice Department stated
that pursuing the prosecution no longer aligns with the current
administration's federal law enforcement priorities. The decision was handed
down on the anniversary of the 2015 Swiss hotel raids that originally launched
the massive, global investigation into FIFA, soccer's international governing
body.
That initial crackdown resulted in charges against 14
defendants, exposing deep-seated corruption at the highest levels of global
soccer and forcing the eventual resignation of top executive officials. The
dropped prosecution marks another major corporate corruption case shelved by
federal authorities this year.
It follows the Justice Department's earlier withdrawal of
corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a highly unusual move
that prompted a wave of departures among veteran prosecutors within the public
integrity section in Washington, DC, and led to the resignation of the acting
US attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Appearing alone in court, Joseph Nocella, the US attorney
for the Eastern District of New York, told the judge that the Department of
Justice explicitly declined to dedicate further resources to the matter. He
explained that corporate bribery of this nature does not fit with the
administration's current focus areas, which emphasize domestic and foreign
terrorism, national security threats, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking,
and violent gangs.
During the hearing, US District Judge Pamela Chen pointed
out the stark visual of Nocella standing by himself at the prosecution table,
despite his team being fully prepared on paper for the day's proceedings.
Nocella replied that he was appearing solo because he was the individual who
personally signed the formal motion to dismiss the case.
The sudden end to the prosecution represents a significant
shift for the Brooklyn federal prosecutor's office, where the case had long
been considered a centerpiece of its international white-collar crime division.
In its official court filings, the Justice Department clarified that the motion
to drop charges against Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International
Channels, and Full Play Group SA was strictly isolated to this specific case
The government emphasized that it is not seeking to overturn
or alter any past convictions or guilty pleas secured against other defendants
over the last decade. Lopez and Full Play Group were originally accused of
orchestrating tens of millions of dollars in bribes to South American soccer
officials to secure lucrative, long-term media and broadcasting rights for
major international tournaments, including the World Cup.
Both defendants were convicted by a federal jury during a
2023 trial. Following that trial, Judge Chen took the step of overturning the
jury's guilty verdict based on narrow definitions of federal fraud laws. While
the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reversed her ruling and
reinstated the convictions, the legal battle continued to escalate until the
Justice Department intervened in December, requesting a full dismissal of the
indictment.
Leaving the Brooklyn federal courthouse following the
decision, Lopez expressed immediate relief, stating that a grueling six-year
ordeal that should have never been initiated in the first place had finally
come to an end.
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