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Soccer

Former South American football chiefs accused of taking millions in bribes

The first former FIFA officials to stand trial since U.S. prosecutors began investigating the association’s shady practices are accused of agreeing “to receive millions of dollars in bribes” regarding the Copa America Centenario.

Assistant U.S. attorney Keith Edelman told the New York courtroom on Monday that the three defendants weren’t exclusively looking to unlawfully profit from that competition, and “did it year after year, tournament after tournament, bribe after bribe,” as reported by the Guardian’s Oliver Laughland.

The accused trio are:

  • Jose Maria Marin – 85-year-old former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation
  • Juan Angel Napout – 59-year-old former president of CONMEBOL and the Paraguayan Football Association
  • Manuel Burga – 60-year-old former president of the Peruvian Football Federation

All three deny multiple counts of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering; pocketing funds that Edelman suggested could’ve been spent on facilities around the world, and funding women’s and youth teams.

“The defendants cheated the sport in order to line their pockets with money that should have been spent to benefit the game, not themselves,” Edelman said, according to Reuters.

The trial’s primary focus will be on how marketing and sponsorship rights were distributed for the Copa America and the Copa Libertadores, and also domestic competition Copa do Brasil. Edelman says he possesses U.S. government-presented evidence from witness testimony, financial paperwork, covert recordings, and further records that prove corrupt behaviour.

Napout is alleged to have accepted bribes amounting to “over $100,000 at a time.”

The defence attorneys didn’t deny any wrongdoing by FIFA officials in general, but insisted their clients weren’t wrapped up in it. They claimed the U.S. government’s investigation was relying too heavily on the accounts of FIFA employees who had pleaded guilty and were trying to lessen their sentences by becoming whistleblowers for the case.

Marin, Napout, and Burga are expected to receive lengthy sentences if found guilty in a trial that could last around six weeks. Of the 42 charged in the FIFA investigation so far, 24 have pleaded guilty and two have been sentenced.

NFL

Pagano says medical staff handled Brissett fine

INDIANAPOLIS – Colts coach Chuck Pagano defended the team’s medical staff on Monday a day after questions arose on how they handled quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s concussion situation in Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Our guys, if they’re not 100 percent, they’re not going to put them back out there. Period,” Pagano said.

Brissett went into the concussion tent on the sideline after he took a shot to the back of the head from Steelers defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt on a third-down scramble with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. Backup quarterback Scott Tolzien took the field on the Colts’ next series, only to have Brissett run on at the last second.

Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett remains in the concussion protocol after he was injured Sunday against Pittsburgh. Marc Lebryk/USA TODAY Sports

Brissett’s postgame media session was cancelled after the team announced that he developed concussion symptoms following their 20-17 loss to the Steelers.

Pagano said they plan to send the NFL the video of the play to review because there wasn’t a flag thrown on the play and it appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play. He was asked if evaluating for concussions on the sideline is a difficult thing for the NFL to handle.

“No, I think it’s simple,” he said. “I think they got the thing set up the way it’s supposed to be set up. A guy gets hit and there’s a helmet-to-helmet shot and we all see it – you can go back and look at the TV copy, you guys saw the same thing I saw. You’re not supposed to be able to do that (helmet-to-helmet hits), but it happened. We pull him out, they go through the protocol, check off all the boxes, dot the I’s, cross the T’s. No, they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.”

Brissett did not speak to the media on Monday because he’s still in the concussion protocol. The Colts don’t play again until Nov. 26 because they have their bye this weekend. Tolzien will start against the Tennessee Titans if Brissett is still in the protocol.

“If you think about it, I've never held a job in my life. I went from being an NFL player to a coach to a broadcaster. I haven't worked a day in my life.”
-John Madden


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