A former Costa Rican football federation president charged in a U.S. corruption probe involving the sport's global governing body FIFA "pleaded guilty on Friday, admitting he took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes," according to Nate Raymond of REUTERS.
Eduardo Li, also an ex-member of the exec committee for CONCACAF, "pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to charges including wire fraud and racketeering conspiracy."
In court, Li said as president of Costa Rica's football federation, FEDEFUT, "he accepted bribes to award contracts for media and marketing rights for matches and for sponsoring team uniforms." Li: "I knew that it was wrong of me to accept such undisclosed payments." Li said that he negotiated a $500,000 bribe, of which $300,000 he actually received, "to award a Miami-based unit of Brazil's Traffic Group media and marketing rights for 2022 World Cup qualifier matches" (REUTERS, 10/7). In N.Y., Rebecca Ruiz reported Li's conviction is the 18th announced by the U.S. "in its criminal prosecutions involving FIFA." After seven months in jail in Switzerland, Li "was extradited to the United States at the end of 2015." Li had been scheduled to face trial in Nov. '17, "along with seven defendants who have contested the charges against them" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/7).
