Former president of Honduras, Rafael Callejas, who then became president of Fenafuth, the Honduran soccer federation, plead guilty of numerous charges involving the FIFA corruption scandal, which is being investigated by the U.S. government. Callejas admitted before Judge Robert M. Levy in a United States District Court on Monday, that he had been responsible of taking bribes from businessmen who sought media and marketing rights, despite knowing it was wrong. He also admitted to have distributed some of the money to other soccer delegates in his country, in order to ensure his reelection.
The process documents indicate Callejas took “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from Media World, a sports marketing company in Florida, in order to use his influences to get TV rights to matches played by the Honduran national team. Callejas spent 13 years as president of Fenafuth, after being president of Honduras from 1990-1994, and later became a member of the marketing and television committee of FIFA.
“I abused my position of trust and authority,” Callejas told Judge Levy. “I knew that it was wrong for me to ask for and accept such undisclosed payments.” Each charge for includes a maximum of 20 years in prison, and, for now, he has agreed to forfeit $650,000 until his sentencing on August 5.
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