Aaron Davidson, the former head of the US division of Brazilian sports marketing agency Traffic Sports, is scheduled to plead guilty to corruption charges in a US federal court in Brooklyn tomorrow (Thursday).
The plea was disclosed in a scheduled order filed in the court, according to the Reuters news agency.
Davidson is one of 42 individuals and entities who have been charged as part of an investigation led by the US Department of Justice into allegations of corruption in relation to the award of marketing and media rights surrounding football tournaments.
In May of last year, Davidson entered a ‘not guilty’ plea to charges that he secured deals worth more than $35m (€32m) for Traffic, in part by arranging bribes for former Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb. However, in July 2015 it emerged that he had been “actively engaged in plea negotiations” since his arrest.
In total, 17 people and two companies have pleaded guilty, including the founder of Traffic, Brazilian José Hawilla. A year ago, it emerged that Hawilla had admitted to a judge that he paid bribes regularly since 1991.
An Argentinian judge yesterday denied a US request to extradite father-and-son sports marketing team Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, as well as former regional football administrator Eduardo Deluca, as the investigation continues.