CONMEBOL Facing Cashflow Crisis After U.S. Justice Department Corruption Investigation

South American football's governing body, CONMEBOL, may be forced to use a $10M reserve fund "to pay expenses for the ongoing Copa America because of the ongoing investigation into football corruption," according to the AP. CONMEBOL Treasurer Carlos Chavez said that the reserves "would give us a little breathing space for a few days." Chavez also said that sponsors like Coca-Cola "have been asked to pay directly to CONMEBOL." He said that the company Datisa, "which owns the rights to the tournament," had paid only $35M of $80M owed to CONMEBOL. He said that Datisa's bank accounts "are frozen because of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into corruption." Chavez: "The sponsors that have contracts with Datisa have not yet paid all they owe to Datisa. Therefore, paying us directly is a possibility." Chavez said that CONMEBOL needed at least $20M "to pay prize money and other costs for the remainder of the tournament" (AP, 6/24).