NEW YORK – After a prolonged legal battle, U.S. prosecutors informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that they are seeking to drop their effort to uphold the convictions of a former Fox executive and a South American sports media company in a corruption case involving TV rights for international soccer tournaments.
Hernan Lopez, former CEO of Fox International Channels, and Full Play Group SA were convicted in 2023 following a New York trial but were later acquitted by a judge. An appeals court reinstated the convictions in July, though further appeals left the case’s outcome uncertain. Prosecutors now say dismissing the case serves the “interests of justice” and asked for it to be returned to a lower court to consider a motion to dismiss the indictment.
Lopez issued a statement expressing relief at the dismissal and gratitude for the chance to put the matter behind him. “The charges were baseless from the start, and I have fought for five years to clear my name,” he said. Full Play’s legal team declined to comment.
Both Lopez and Full Play were part of a broader U.S. investigation into FIFA and international soccer that began in 2015, which alleged that officials in multiple soccer federations accepted $150 million in bribes and kickbacks. Prosecutors had argued that Lopez helped orchestrate bribes to South America’s CONMEBOL officials, securing Fox broadcasting rights for the Copa Libertadores club championship and obtaining confidential information about bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and changes under the Trump administration have made it harder to secure certain corruption convictions. The Justice Department has also restructured, scaling back prosecutors focused on fraud and corruption cases involving public officials. Trump previously paused enforcement of a statute that bars U.S.-based companies or individuals from giving money or gifts to foreign officials to gain business advantages.
The U.S. is set to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Fox Corp., which separated from its international channels subsidiary in 2019, was never charged and has denied involvement in the bribery allegations.