October 28 – The executive chairman of Mexican media giants Televisa, Emilio Azcarraga, is stepping down from Grupo Televisa SAB in the wake of the FBI’s bribery probe into broadcast rights sales for FIFA World Cup matches. The resignation comes with immediate effect.
The shock decision comes amidst a US Justice Department investigation into the corporation’s dealings in international football. A court filing last Thursday states that Televisa continues to participate with the probe.
Televisa, a major shareholder in Mexico’s largest broadcaster and the biggest US Spanish-language TV network, was implicated in a US corruption trial in 2017. A witness claimed one of its units bribed FIFA officials to secure rights to World Cup matches.
Azcarraga (pictured), is not the only person to have been affected by issues surrounding FIFA rights.
Severe penalties have been handed down to other companies and individuals. Brazil’s Traffic Group, led by Jose Hawilla, helped broker broadcasting agreements for Latin America’s biggest soccer tournament, and agreed in 2015 to forfeit $151 million, and sell his business. Prosecutors in the US had discovered that he was at the centre of over $100 million in bribes surrounding the rights. He died in 2018.
Another case saw Argentinian sports marketing executive, Alejandro Burzaco, former CEO of sports marketing company TyC, admitting to paying bribes worth tens of millions of dollars to Latin American football officials. He agreed to forfeit more than $21.69 million as part of his guilty plea. This investigation created havoc within the Fox Sports portfolio and led to the ousting of senior executives.
Azcarraga is part of a dynasty within the Mexican broadcasting landscape as his grandfather founded Televisa as well as controlling the nation’s biggest cable and satellite TV providers.
Shares in the company declined 6.4% in third-quarter revenue from the previous year as high-speed internet signups failed to make up for disconnections of cable and satellite TV subscribers. With the stock down 14% for the year, the double whammy of the probe and financial failure surely doomed Azcarraga.
A replacement for Azcarraga, who remains a major shareholder, has yet to be announced.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1730084251labto1730084251ofdlr1730084251owedi1730084251sni@o1730084251fni1730084251
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