Ex-South American FIFA soccer official gets prison sentence

August 29, 2018 Associated Press

Former Conmebol President Juan Angel Napout was sentenced yesterday in Brooklyn for having received more than 3.3 million dollars in bribes for his role in the corruption scandal that rocked FIFA. AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

Share this:

A former top South American soccer official has been sentenced to nine years in prison in the sprawling FIFA bribery scandal.

Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay was sentenced in Brooklyn yesterday. A jury convicted him late last year of racketeering and other charges stemming from a corruption scandal that shook the sport’s international governing body.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence the already-jailed Napout to 20 years prison for taking millions of dollars in bribes from companies seeking marketing rights to major soccer tournaments. His lawyers said he deserved far less time, saying prosecutors exaggerated his role in the scheme.

The 60-year-old Napout is the former president of Paraguay’s soccer federation and of the South American soccer governing body CONMEBOL.