Alejandro Burzaco
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Alejandro Burzaco (born 1964) is an Argentine businessman, the former CEO of
Torneos y Competencias Torneos y Competencias S.A. (abbreviated TyC, also referred as Torneos) is an Argentine sports communications firm created by businessman Carlos Ávila, associated with Jose Santoro, and Héctor Dayan. It is an important force in the world of Arge ...
(also known as TyC or Torneos), a
sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades; however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...
company. A warrant was issued with regards arresting Burzaco in relation to the
2015 FIFA corruption case In 2015, United States federal prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach so ...
, where he is alleged in
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
documents to have paid $110M in bribes to allow TyC to hold on to regional football media rights. On 27 May 2015, Swiss police and assisting FBI agent missed his arrest, and when they called on his hotel bedroom as he was already at breakfast. Burzaco fled Switzerland, and was subsequently sacked from his position by TyC on 3 June 2015. As he holds dual Italian citizenship, he fled there. With his whereabouts unknown to authorities,
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
issued an alert requesting his arrest. Accompanied by his two lawyers, on 10 June 2015 Burzaco turned himself in to Italian police in the northern city of
Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...
. Later Alejandro Burzaco became the U.S. government's star witness of the corruption case. In 2017 he told jurors he paid at least 30 people more than $160 million to secure broadcasting rights to South American tournaments and World Cup matches in 2026 and 2030. He also said that
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
, Grupo Televisa SAB, Media Pro, Globo, Full Play Argentina and
Traffic Group Traffic Group is a sports event management company founded in Brazil, headquartered in São Paulo. History Traffic Group holds the television rights to a number of association football matches in the Americas including Copa América, Copa Lib ...
had bribed
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
for the soccer rights. Burzaco pleaded guilty and his firm forfeited more than $110 million convicted by a federal jury in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, in December 2017. On 12 May 2023, Burzaco was sentenced to time served by U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn federal court. No fine was imposed. The defendant previously forfeited about $21.7 million. Burzaco, 58, had pled guilty in 2015 to three counts of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He admitted to paying bribes and kickbacks to officials at world soccer governing body FIFA and regional affiliates for marketing rights to tournaments including the World Cup and Copa America. Burzaco also said Qatar bribed FIFA officials to host the 2022 World Cup, which the Middle Eastern country denies. Burzaco also testified at this year's trial of Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez, two former 21st Century Fox executives accused of bribing soccer officials for broadcasting rights. Lopez and sports marketing company Full Play Group SA were convicted and Martinez was acquitted.


References

1960s births Living people Argentine people of Italian descent 20th-century Argentine businesspeople 21st-century Argentine businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people) {{Argentina-footy-bio-stub