Media Release

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA Strasse 20, P.O Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland, +41 (0) 43 222 7777

Tuesday 12 November 2019, 14:49

Adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee sanctions former CONMEBOL officials

The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found the following former CONMEBOL officials guilty of bribery in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics:

  • Mr Eduardo Deluca, a former CONMEBOL General Secretary and a former member of several FIFA standing committees;

  • Mr José Luis Meiszner, a former CONMEBOL General Secretary and a former General Secretary of the Argentinian Football Association;

  • Mr Manuel Burga, a former member of the CONMEBOL Executive Committee, a former President of the Peruvian Football Association and a former FIFA standing committee member.

The investigation proceedings against Mr Deluca, Mr Meiszner and Mr Burga concerned their respective roles in bribery schemes in awarding contracts to companies for the media and marketing rights to CONMEBOL competitions (Mr Deluca) and CONMEBOL and Concacaf competitions (Mr Meiszner and Mr Burga), during the periods between 2004 and 2012, 2012 and 2015 and 2010 and 2015, respectively.

In its decisions, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Deluca, Mr Meiszner and Mr Burga had breached art. 27 (Bribery) of the 2018 edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics and, as a result, sanctioned them with a ban for life on taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level. Additionally, a fine in the amount of CHF 1,000,000 has been imposed on each one of them.

The decisions were notified to Mr Deluca, Mr Meiszner and Mr Burga today, the date on which the respective bans come into force, and have been published on legal.fifa.com. A direct link to the decisions is accessible below.

Decision on Mr Deluca

Decision on Mr Meiszner

Decision on Mr Burga