Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, controlling principals of the Full Play agency, have been placed under house arrest after their request to fight extradition was denied.
Hugo Jinkis, 70, and his son Mariano, 40, were among 14 current and former Fifa officials and corporate executives indicted in the United States last month on charges of racketeering and corruption as part of the ongoing scandal that has rocked world football.
The pair handed themselves in to Argentinian authorities last week after US justice officials stated they conspired with a third Argentinian, president of the Torneos y Competencias agency Alejandro Burzaco, to win and retain lucrative media rights for regional football tournaments by paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes.
In a ruling published by the Argentinian judiciary's news service, the Reuters news agency said federal judge Claudio Bonadio stated that defence lawyers had requested the Jinkises be released from detention in order to meet regularly with their legal team in private. The request also pointed to the pair's commercial interests and health factors.
However, Bonadio has denied their release saying they present a flight risk given their personal wealth, stressing that until last week they had both been fugitives. This suggested that “while the extradition request is processed, they could seek to avoid the action of the law courts”, Bonadio said.
The judge added that his ruling would have no impact on how the US extradition request is handled. He has set a bail of eight million pesos (€783,000/$882,000) for Mariano Jinkis and four million pesos for his father. Both men will wear electronic tags and report weekly to the judge's courtroom.
Burzaco handed himself in to Italian police earlier this month.