Testimony lays bare soccer’s biggest corruption scandal

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government’s star witness in a big-money bribery case engulfing the world of soccer has begun testifying at the trial of two former Fox executives and a marketing company accused of paying millions of dollars to rig the bidding process for broadcasting rights to two of the sport’s biggest competitions. The trial in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn is the latest development in a tangled corruption scandal that dates back nearly a decade and has ensnared more than three dozen soccer executives and associates. The witness, Alejandro Burzaco, alleges that he and former Fox executives Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez conspired to bribe South American soccer officials for broadcasting rights to the Copa Libertadores and World Cup.