New York, Nov 15 (AFP) In US federal court, he detailedhow his Torneos y Competencias S.A. company paid millions ofdollars in bribes to South American Football Confederation(CONMEBOL) executives for more than a decade to securetelevision rights to major tournaments.
Bribes were sent by wire transfer to Swiss bank accountsor passed on as cash "in bags or envelopes," Burzaco added.
Fox Pan American Sports, part of 21st Century Fox,Brazil's TV Globo, Argentine group Full Play and Spain'sMediaPro were among those who paid -- all partners of Torneosy Competencias.
Fox Sports' parent company, 21st Century Fox, did notimmediately respond to a request to comment.
The FIFA corruption trial began Monday, two and a halfyears after the United States unveiled the largest graftscandal in the history of world soccer.
Three South American defendants are in the dock, chargedwith racketeering, wire fraud and money launderingconspiracies.
They are Jose Maria Marin, ex-head of Brazil's FootballConfederation, former FIFA vice president Juan Angel Napout,who was elected president of CONMEBOL in 2014, and ManuelBurga, who led soccer in Peru until 2014.
Burzaco said he bribed all three defendants, allegingthat Marin received payments of $300,000, going up to $450,000a year.
The trial is due to last five to six weeks, andprosecutors are expected to present hundreds of thousands ofpages of evidence and dozens of witnesses.
If convicted by a jury, they risk up to 20 years behindbars for the most serious offenses.
- 'Presidential treatment' - ============================ But much of Burzaco's most damning testimony implicatedmen not on trial in New York, including ex-South Americansoccer boss Nicolas Leoz, and his deputies Julio Grondona andRicardo Teixeira.
The three of them would have received around $600,000 ayear in bribes, he said.
Grondona died in 2014 and while Leoz is under housearrest in Paraguay, his lawyers have so far frustrated allattempts to extradite him.
Leoz, Grondona, a former FIFA finance chief and ArgentineFootball Association president, and Teixeira, former presidentof the Brazilian Football Confederation, were given"presidential treatment," he said.
They were whisked around by private jet, with "three orfour Mercedes" parked on the tarmac ready and waiting onarrival at CONMEBOL headquarters.
"They had presidential or diplomatic or royal treatment,"Burzaco testified. "Like a special dignitary, there were nocustoms, no immigration." He also told how they were paid for their votes on theexecutive committee for choosing hosts of the World Cup.
When Leoz failed to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 WorldCup at FIFA headquarters in December 2010, Teixeira andGrondona rounded on him, Burzaco testified.
"They shook him up. They asked: 'What are you doing? Areyou the one not voting for Qatar?'" he quoted them as saying.
A month later, Grondona received $1 million from Teixeirafor voting for Qatar, Burzaco said.
The defendants are just three of the 42 officials andmarketing executives, not to mention three companies, indictedin an exhaustive 236-page complaint detailing 92 separatecrimes and 15 corruption schemes to the tune of $200 million.
Defense lawyers admit widespread corruption at FIFA, butsay there is no evidence that their clients were involved, andwill seek to discredit government witnesses who are likely toinclude those who cut plea bargain deals in the case. (AFP) ATAT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.