A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the indictments against two defendants in the government’s long-running probe of corruption in international soccer.
The defendants — Hernán López, a former high-ranking executive at Fox responsible for its sports broadcasting business in Latin America, and Full Play Group, an Argentine sports marketing firm — had been convicted by a jury in 2023. That trial helped expose years of bribes paid to officials at FIFA, the nonprofit that governs soccer worldwide, in exchange for rights to tournaments.
But in a surprising move last December, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the indictments against both defendants, stating that such a move would be in the “interests of justice.” On Wednesday, Judge Pamela K. Chen of the Eastern District of New York granted that motion in a brief ruling from the bench.
Her decision marks the end of a winding saga within the larger prosecution, one that over the past three years saw the convictions of Mr. López and Full Play reversed and reinstated by federal judges before they were ultimately abandoned by the Justice Department.
Mr. López and Full Play had been accused of taking part in a scheme to pay bribes in exchange for commercial rights to popular soccer tournaments, including the Copa América and Copa Libertadores. Prosecutors also alleged that Mr. López’s actions helped Fox win lucrative rights to broadcast the World Cup in the United States in 2018, 2022 and 2026.
“Six years later, a case that should have never started is finally over,” Mr. López told reporters at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn after the hearing.
Carlos Ortiz, a lawyer for Full Play, said in a statement that the company was “very appreciative of the government’s careful consideration of the case,” adding that “we are pleased with this result.”
The dismissals do not, however, put the long-running FIFA case to rest. In the months since Solicitor General D. John Sauer requested the dismissal of the two indictments, four other defendants in the case have come forward to ask that their convictions be dropped as well, arguing that the Justice Department’s stance shows that no crimes were ever committed. If those convictions were to be reversed, it could spur a flood of similar motions from other defendants that could unwind the entire case.
In a letter to Judge Chen in March, Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, argued that while the indictments against Mr. López and Full Play should be dropped, all the remaining convictions should stand, a position echoed in filings by FIFA and Concacaf, the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Notably, Mr. Nocella, who as the U.S. attorney does not typically appear in court to represent the government, delivered the office’s argument on Wednesday. The career prosecutors who have managed the case were not present, and Mr. Nocella had been the sole signatory on the office’s motion to dismiss.
The prosecutors’ absence from the courtroom was noted by Judge Chen, who remarked to Mr. Nocella that “your team was fully adequate.”
Since the FIFA investigation began in secret 16 years ago, prosecutors have netted more than 30 convictions and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and restitution. The case has been a point of pride both within the Eastern District and throughout the Justice Department.
But during the second Trump administration, the Justice Department has moved to disband and downsize units focused on prosecuting public and foreign corruption. On Wednesday, Mr. Nocella said the case “doesn’t fit within the administration’s priorities,” which he said included prosecuting terrorism, violent gangs and illegal drugs.
Last week, The Times reported that the prosecutors managing the FIFA case were meeting to discuss possible plea deals with two other defendants who had been fugitives from justice for nearly 11 years.
Those two men, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, are the owners of Full Play, but because a judge in Argentina blocked their extradition, they had not previously appeared in the United States.
The arrival of the Jinkises in Brooklyn — and the potential for two new convictions — stood as a notable contrast to Mr. Nocella’s statement in court that the FIFA case was no longer a priority for the government.
In filings, Judge Chen has said she would entertain arguments about dismissing the other four convictions once she had ruled on the indictments against Mr. López and Full Play. She has not yet set a timeline for future hearings.
Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.
The post Judge Dismisses 2 Indictments in FIFA Bribery Case appeared first on New York Times.
