Witness testifies Fox Sports involved in soccer bribes

NEW YORK — Fox Sports partnered with a South American marketing firm to make millions of dollars in bribes to highranking soccer officials in exchange for lucrative broadcasting rights to major tournaments, the marketing company’s former CEO testified Tuesday.

Alejandro Burzaco, former CEO of the Argentinabased firm, testified that Fox and other broadcasters were involved in a scheme to pay bribes — concealed using offshore side entities and sham contracts — that secured rights for the Copa America and other events.

Fox Sports denied any involvement in bribery Tuesday in a statement. The statement said Burzaco’s company was a subsidiary of Fox Pan American Sports, which at the time was under the control of a private-equity firm.

Burzaco said other media businesses — including Televisa, Media Pro, TV Globo, Full Play Argentina, and Traffic — had all paid bribes for soccer rights as well. In a statement, Globo vehemently denied making bribes.

The testimony came on the second day of the U.S. trial of three former South American soccer officials accused of taking bribes in a sprawling corruption investigation of FIFA, the sport’s governing body.