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Federal Investigation of FIFA

Americans love soccer, but not as much as the rest of the world. But, that isn’t stopping the Department of Justice from sending a strong message to the sports international governing body. The Department of Justice is “sending a message that enough is enough” when it comes to corruption in the game.

Sports marketing executives in the United States and South America are accused of “systematically” paying and agreeing to pay millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks for media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments.

FIFA, or the Federation Internationale de Football Association, is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. But the 47-count indictment against people associated with the global organization was unsealed in federal court today in Brooklyn, New York. American authorities are concerned because the U.S. television market is among one of the biggest for the World Cup.