Torneos reaches settlement with prosecutors

The Torneos y Competencias agency has agreed a deal with US prosecutors to pay $112.8m (€106m) to settle charges in relation to a football corruption probe.

As part of the deferred prosecution agreement, Torneos agreed to forfeit $89m and pay a $23.76m penalty. A charge of one count of wire fraud conspiracy will be dropped if the company abides by the terms of the agreement for four years.

The company will also implement new internal compliance and accounting controls.

The deal was approved by US District Judge Pamela Chen at a federal court hearing in Brooklyn.

“Today is a great day for us as we start to leave this investigation behind,” Ignacio Galarza, the company’s general manager, told reporters following the hearing.

According to the Reuters news agency, Brooklyn US attorney Robert Capers said that the company is “being given a chance to change the way the business of soccer is done in the future.”

Prosecutors had claimed that Torneos paid bribes and kickbacks to top football officials over a 15-year period in order to secure media and marketing rights.