Witness: Bribes helped Fox execs get soccer TV rights

NEW YORK: The US government’s star witness in a corruption trial over the broadcasting rights to some of soccer’s biggest events testified Wednesday how he and two former Fox executives paid millions of dollars in bribes to undermine competing bids.

The trial in New York City is the latest development in a tangled corruption scandal that dates back nearly a decade and has ensnared more than three dozen executives and associates in the world’s most popular sport.

The witness, Alejandro Burzaco, alleges that he and former Fox executives Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez conspired to bribe South American soccer officials for the TV rights to the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest annual tournament, the Copa Libertadores, and help land broadcasting rights to the sport’s most lucrative competition, the World Cup.

“The bribes fulfilled that purpose extremely well,” Burzaco testified.

Lawyers for Lopez and Martinez have asserted that the former executives are being framed, with one defense lawyer accusing Burzaco of masterminding the bribes.

During his first day on the witness stand Wednesday, Burazco told the court about the sham contracts that were set up with soccer officials to funnel the bribes.

He said the payments Lopez and Martinez are accused of making to South American Football Confederation officials helped Fox squeeze out competitors and secured the rights to tournaments for below-market costs.

Lopez, a native of Argentina, is the former chief executive of Fox International Channels and later operated a podcasting venture. Martinez, a native of Mexico, headed the broadcaster’s Latin America affiliate.

Another sports media and marketing company, Full Play Group SA, is on trial with Lopez and Martinez, but the