Everything is accomplished
Judge Pamel Chen handed over to the jury of the Brooklyn Court all the reports concluded after the investigation of Manuel Burga and other former officials of Conmebol. Previously, prosecutor Kristin Mace requested that they be declared guilty.
It was a long process in which everything happened. In mid-November, the former president of the Peruvian Soccer Federation was accused of threatening Alejandro Burzaco, a key witness in the Fifagate case, during the trial.
According to authorities, Manuel Burga made threatening gestures to Burzaco, moving his hand as if he were cutting his throat.
The prosecutors realized what had happened and confronted Burga; however, his lawyer denied the gesture and claimed that he was actually scratching his neck repeatedly because he has dermatitis.
In view of the circumstances, Pamel Chen decided to take away his access to the phone and the internet.
A few days later, Kevin Jonas, former member of the Jonas Brothers band, appeared in court and testified to support the testimony that one of the accused was bribed with tickets to a Paul McCartney concert in Argentina in 2010.
At another moment, Manuel Burga received a harsh reprimand from the judge for taking her pen without permission, so he had to make amends to avoid further problems.
And finally, this Thursday, Kristin Mace requested that both Manuel Burga and Juan Ángel Napout and José María Marín be declared guilty.
"Each of them reached out their hands and shamelessly accepted being included in the bribes paid by the sports companies that wanted to secure contracts for the television and marketing of the Copa América, the Copa Libertadores, and other tournaments and matches of clubs and national teams. It is time for them to face their responsibility," Mace explained.
According to the prosecutor, Napout received, between 2010 and 2016, 10.5 million dollars in bribes, Marín about 6.55 million, while Burga obtained 4.4 million in bribes.
It is important to remember that in the last week of November, Luis Bedoya, former president of the Colombian Soccer Federation, admitted to having received bribes from the Full Play Group company from 2007 to 2015 for broadcasting rights of matches, and implicated Manuel Burga and Juan Ángel Napout.
Similarly, the Colombian confessed that in 2008 the 'Group of 6' was formed, of which he was part along with Carlos Chávez (former president of the Bolivian federation), Juan Ángel Napout (president of Conmebol), Rafael Esquivez (former president of the Venezuelan federation), Luis Chiriboba, and Manuel Burga.
Bedoya declared that the main mission of the 'Group of 6' was to ignore Traffic, the owner of the Copa América rights, so that Full Play could take it all.