Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/762759
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Argentine firm reaches $112.8 million deal with U.S. in FIFA probe AN Argentine sports media company has agreed to pay about $112.8 million (89 mil- lion pounds) as part of a deal resolving U.S. charges stemming a wide-ranging bribery probe involving FIFA, football's world governing body, according to court documents filed on Tues- day. The deferred prosecution agreement with Torneos y Com- petencias SA, whose former chief executive pleaded guilty last year to engaging in schemes to bribe football officials, was disclosed in court papers filed in federal court in Brooklyn. Under the deal, Toreos agreed to forfeit $89 million and pay a $23.76 million penalty. Prosecu- tors charged it with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, which will be dropped if it abides by the de- ferred prosecution agreement's terms for four years. The company is one of 43 peo- ple and entities charged as part of a U.S. investigation that up- ended Zurich-based FIFA and the football world. To date, 20 people and two related compa- nies have pleaded guilty in con- nection with the probe. Prosecutors said the defend- ants engaged in more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks that were sought and received by football officials for marketing and broadcasting rights to tour- naments and matches. Argentina-based Torneos is 40 percent owned by DirecTV, which AT&T Inc (T.N) acquired in 2015. In August 2015, DirecTV valued its stake in Torneos as worth $147 million, but said its investment could be adversely impacted by the probe. The case against Torneos came after former CEO Alejandro Bur- zaco pleaded guilty in November 2015 to having agreed to pay bribes and kickbacks to multi- ple officials, including the South American football governing body CONMEBOL and FIFA. Burzaco said the bribes had been paid since before he ac- quired a stake in Torneos in 2005. The goal was to obtain the marketing rights to various tour- naments, including the 2018, 2022, 2026, and 2030 World Cup finals, he said. In 2013, Torneos also formed a joint venture called Datisa with two other companies that agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars in bribes to CONMEBOL offi- cials in connection with a$317.5 million contract, the indictment said. The contract was for the rights to three Copa America tourna- ments as well as the 2016 Copa America Centenario, a tourna- ment held this June to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Copa America, the indictment said. The case is U.S. v. Torneos y Competencias SA, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 16-cr-00634. Taxing questions spoil Ballon d'Or win for Ronaldo REAL Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo feels unable to celebrate his fourth Ballon d'Or award as much as his previous triumphs due to re- cent allegations of tax evasion. The European Investigative Col- laborations (EIC) media consorti- um reported in early December that Ronaldo, and several other clients of soccer agency Gestifute, had used tax havens to handle tens of mil- lions of euros in earnings. Gestifute denied the accusations last week. Ronaldo, who led Portugal to the Euro 2016 title in July after helping Real Madrid clinch the Champions League, expressed his disappoint- ment at the timing of the charges against him. "Of course it (allegations) has spoiled it a little bit. I would be ly- ing if I said it hadn't. I'm not a hyp- ocrite," he told soccer magazine France Football. "I wasn't pleased. The whole pro- cess in itself is hard and not only for me, but also for the people alongside me: my family, my son, all those who work with me. "All that irritates me because I try to do things correctly, be transpar- ent." In their denial, Gestifute stated that Ronaldo, who moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, is compliant with his tax obli- gations in Spain. The 31-year-old Ronaldo, who beat Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann to world football's top individual prize for 2016 at a glitzy ceremony on Monday, insists he has nothing to hide. "You just have to type 'Cristiano Ronaldo' on the Internet and you know everything about me," the Portugal captain said. "I don't have any reason to lie. "What came out troubles me. Be- cause it's not true. The lie is trou- bling. I have done things correctly. "There are a lot of innocent people in prison. And I feel a little bit like that. You know you have done noth- ing wrong, and they say you have done something reprehensible. No one likes that. "But the truth always comes out. Sooner or later." Ronaldo, who previously won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, 2013 and 2014, is currently with Real Madrid in Ja- pan preparing for Thursday's Club World Cup semi-final against Mexi- can side Club America. Cristiano Ronaldo