A "sprawling" U.S. corruption investigation into int'l football "increasingly is focusing on the role multinational sponsors, broadcasters and banks may have played" in facilitating alleged corruption, people familiar with the investigation said, according to Matthews, Viswanatha & Flint of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The sources said that in some instances, federal prosecutors "are investigating the companies themselves for potential wrongdoing." In others, it "remains unclear if the companies are the focus or if prosecutors are just seeking cooperation." While U.S. officials hope to reach settlements with some companies, possibly within the next year, "progress has been more muted than expected." The scrutiny has prompted at least 11 multinational companies and banks to "commission internal probes." People familiar with the matter said that U.S. authorities' focus now has "shifted to the relationships between sports-marketing firms and the companies to whom they sold media and sponsorship rights." Prosecutors "also are receiving information from Panamanian authorities who have reviewed the so-called Panama Papers." Two of the people said that U.S. officials hope the documents "detail money flows and entities involved in the alleged scheme." Prosecutors are investigating affiliates of DirecTV and Fox that acquired football tournament broadcasting rights, people familiar with the matter said. In order to make a case against a broadcaster or sponsor, "prosecutors would need to prove the companies knew they were overpaying for contracts because of built-in bribes." That is "difficult to prove, some of the people said, because there are few comparisons to value contracts" for major football tournaments. Prosecutors also are examining some of the world’s largest financial institutions "to determine whether the banks should have raised alarms about money flows linked to alleged corruption at FIFA" (WSJ, 4/17).
