Fox, under the enlarged glass of its role in bribes in football in South America

The United States Court in the United States is considering reviving the ruling on corruption in obtaining television rights, referring to the executives of the company Fox and their links to football in Latin America.

The United States Court analyzes the possibility of revitalizing the judicial process against the previous leadership of Fox Corporation, including Carlos Martinez, for his alleged participation in the bribes’ scheme to obtain exclusive rights to transfer the South American football championships.

The case is part of the investigations derived from the “FIFA Gate” that was moved in 2015, and participates in the executives of media companies and sports leaders in the region. According to a report issued by Ramón Alberto Garza, which was published in Magenta Code, entitled “The Fifa Fox”, a review, the US Public Prosecutor’s Office seeks to restore the condemnations that have been canceled or, and this failed to request a new trial against the previous leadership.

According to the report, Carlos Martinez, head of Fox SPORTS Latin America, was able to include the León and Pachuca clubs in the Transmission network in the Fox SPORTS network, taking advantage of his relationship with Jesús Martínez, the owner of the Pachuca Group. This movement was part of a broader strategy to expand the presence of the series in the regional market.

The US Department of Justice argues that this expansion depends on pushing bribes for the officials of the Football Association in South America (Conmebol), with the aim of obtaining exclusive rights for championships such as Copa Libertadors. In 2020, Carlos Martinez and Hernan Lopez, CEO of Fox International Channels, was officially accused of these facts.

In the trial held in New York in 2023, Lopez announced a conviction, while Martinez was acquitted after there was no consensus between the jury members. However, the Public Prosecutor’s Office provided the documentary evidence and the testimony that he referred to as one of the participants in the plan.

Currently, the Prosecutor Kaitlin Farrell requested the opposite of Martinez’s acquittal, on the pretext that the legal precedent used by the District Court to reject positions will not apply in cases of international bribery. A judge of the Court of the Department, John Walker, has expressed doubts about the court’s decision.

The report also indicates that after the mandatory sale of Fox SPORTS Mexico to Grupo Lauman in 2021 -as part of the conditions imposed by the Mexican authorities during the acquisition of Fox Center 21st Fox by Disney -Carlos Martinez, gained 5 % sharing in the companies working on the brand of Fox brand SPORTS and was appointed to Fox SPORTS.

This fact, according to publication, allowed to maintain an indirect relationship between the American company and the Mexican market, without knowing the new owners.

The court has not yet issued a decision on the appeal, but its decision may involve the reopening of the case and a new judicial process for those involved.