A U.S. appeals court reinstated the convictions of a former Fox broadcasting executive and an Argentine sports marketing company linked to the FIFA corruption scandal on Wednesday.
Hernan Lopez, a former executive at 21st Century Fox and the marketing firm Full Play, was initially acquitted on appeal after being convicted in 2023 due to a judges reference to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
However, an appeals court in New York ruled on Wednesday that the acquittal on appeal was a mistake, as it misinterpreted the legal standards around federal wire fraud.
The case against Lopez and Full Play arose from the 2015 investigation conducted by the U.S. Justice Department, which shook the foundations of FIFA and its continental associations in South and North America.
The U.S. inquiry involving raids on FIFA officials in Zurich resulted in numerous arrests, trials, and subsequent charges, convictions, and guilty pleas.