The United States Department of Justice has awarded the sum of USD 201 million to the FIFA Foundation as compensation for the losses suffered by FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL as victims of decades of football corruption schemes. This money was seized from the bank accounts of former officials who were involved in, and then prosecuted for, years of corruption schemes in football. The funds will go into a newly formed World Football Remission Fund, established under the auspices of the FIFA Foundation to help finance football-related projects with positive community impact across the globe.
CONCACAF and its affected Member Associations received $70 million in funds recovered from individuals and entities, from CONCACAF’s perspective, this announcement concludes a long-term legal effort, prioritized by CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani since he assumed office in 2016, to recover football development funds misappropriated by previous CONCACAF administrations implicated in the DOJ’s long-running investigation of corruption in world football.
“This is a hugely important announcement for CONCACAF as these funds will now be used for what they were originally intended: for development programs to give children a chance to play the game, for youth competitions and coaching courses to be delivered in our region and for many more football activities,” said CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President, Victor Montagliani. “I want to thank our Member Associations, who have been fully supportive of this process, further demonstrating their commitment to our One CONCACAF approach in everything we do. While today’s announcement relates to a complex investigation and process by the US Department of Justice, for CONCACAF it is ultimately about delivering on our priority to ensure good governance and to being football first. We are committed to working with the FIFA Foundation to make certain these funds benefit football at all levels in our region and beyond,” added Montagliani.
“We would like to place on record our thanks to the US Department of Justice for the rigor with which they have pursued these misappropriated funds so that they can be distributed properly to ensure the continued development of the sport,” added CONCACAF Chief Legal Officer Bill Carvalho.
