Emilio Azcárraga, executive chairman of Mexican mass media corporation Grupo Televisa, has gone on leave amid a United States government investigation into Televisa’s allegedly corrupt dealings with FIFA.
In a report on Thursday detailing its third quarters results, Televisa said that it had approved a “proposal” from Azcárraga to take immediate leave pending the resolution of a United States Department of Justice probe into the company’s business dealings with FIFA, the world’s governing body of association football, or soccer.
In early 2023, Televisa reached a US $95 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed in the United States by investors who accused the broadcaster of bribing FIFA officials to win rights to four World Cup tournaments (2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030).
Argentine businessman Alejandro Burzaco testified in 2017 that Televisa and Brazilian media organization Globo teamed up with a marketing firm to pay a $15 million bribe to a FIFA executive to secure broadcasting rights to the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the lawsuit in the United States “claimed that investors suffered losses related to the FIFA corruption trials.”
“Televisa denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle,” the newspaper said.
In August, the Mexico City-based broadcaster said it was being investigated by the Department of Justice, and noted that the outcome of the probe could have a “material impact” on the finances of the company, which is the owner of United States-based television network Univisión.
Few details are known about the investigation, but it is linked to the FIFA bribery allegations. Televisa said it is cooperating with U.S. authorities.
Azcárraga, a grandson of Televisa’s founder, had been a leader of the company since the death of his father in 1997. He was CEO until 2017 before stepping back from the day-to-day management of the company and becoming executive chairman.
With the chairman going on leave, it will be the first time in Grupo Televisa’s 94-year-history that the company won’t be led by a member of the Azcárraga family, La Jornada newspaper reported.
Emilio Azcárraga – described by the Financial Times as “one of Latin America’s most powerful business leaders” – also runs a Televisa-affiliated company that owns professional Mexican soccer team Club América and Mexico City’s cavernous Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium), which will host the first match of the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2026.
It was unclear whether the 56-year-old Televisa chairman will return to his position once the investigation concludes in the United States. That decision would appear to hinge on the outcome of the probe.
Televisa is the world’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster and has played a highly influential role in Mexico over the decades, including via its symbiotic relationship with the Institutional Revolutionary Party during the 20th century, when the country was virtually a one-party state.
With reports from La Jornada, Financial Times, AP, Reuters and Infobae
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