Raid on Conmebol offices bodes badly for New Year

The Copa America Cententario has been green-lighted to be staged in the U.S. this summer, but roadblocks in the path forward continue to spring up.

Less than three weeks beforescheduled elections to select a new president of Conmebol, the governing body of soccer in South America, Paraguayan authorities have raided the organization’s main offices near Asuncion.

The raid, conducted on Thursday, is yet another offshoot of the probe into FIFA and international soccer matters being conducted by U.S. and Swiss authorities. Among the top soccer officials whohave been indicted are former Conmebol presidents Nicolas Leoz, Eugenio Figueredo and Juan Angel Napout. They are charged with taking bribes in exchange for rights fees paid formajor events, including the Copa America and the special commemorative edition to be played this year.

Napout was arrested Dec. 3 in a raid on a Zurich hotel and resigned as federationpresident a week later. He is also a former FIFA vice president.

Paraguay’s prosecution service said authorities were “searching for documentation related to the granting of commercial and broadcast rights for sporting events.” That sounds all too familiar, and ominous.

In October, Conmebolannounced that commercial rights deals for the 2015, 2019 and 2023 Copa America tournaments and the 2016 Cententario negotiated with Datisa had been annulled. Officials from marketing agenciesTraffic, Full Play Sports, and Torneos y Competencias had formed Datisa and paid out the bribes to secure the rights, which for the Centenario alone were reportedly valued at $112.5 million.

Inearly December, those commercial rights were sold by Conmebol and Concacaf to the international marketing agency IMG and Soccer United Marketing, which is owned and operated by MLS. Bloomberg News reported the two companies paid slightly less than $20 millionfor rights to the tournament that will  feature 16 teams – all 10 Conmebol nations and six from Concacaf — and stage matches in 10 U.S. cities.

This is yet another black eye forConmebol and the global game, particularly since it comes shortly after disgraced FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s vow to fight an eight-year ban from soccer activities meted out by theorganization’s Ethics Committee. Though annulment of the Datisa deal cleared a major obstacle for the Centenario to be staged as planned, and a lot of tickets and merchandise will probably sellanyway, the event will also draw considerable scrutiny from government observers in the press.

Conmebol and Concacaf officials still in power must be fearful of what will happen when theirteams arrive in the U.S. The first major raid, conducted at a Zurich hotel in May, was ordered by the Department of Justice and resulted indictments against nine Conmebol and Concacaf officials andfive marketing executives linked to Datisa.

The release of the second indictments and plea agreements in December that brought the total of South American federations whose presidents had been indicted or pleaded guilty to nine out of 10. The only reason the former president of theArgentine federation, the notorious Julio Grondona, was not charged is he died on July 30, 2014.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in the aftermath of the May raid, “The indictmentalleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States. It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused theirpositions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.  And it has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that shouldbenefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organizations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable.

“Today’s action makes clear that this Department of Justice intends to end any such corrupt practices, to root out misconduct, and to bring wrongdoers to justice – and we lookforward to continuing to work with other countries in this effort.”

If she’s that determined to root out the rascals in Europe and South America, what’s it going to be likewhen they check into their hotels in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc.? The Centenario might be the major soccer event most sparsely attended by federation officials of the participating teams.And winning the Conmebol presidential election later this month probably won’t be the best career move.