Copa Sudamericana

FIFA bans ex-member of audit committee for life for bribery

Published Aug. 15, 2019 12:32 p.m. ET

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has banned a Bolivian official for life from football for being involved in bribery while serving on its audit and compliance committee.

FIFA's ethics division found Romer Osuna guilty of being part of a bribery scheme from 2012-15 while awarding contracts for the media and marketing rights to South American competitions.

Osuna has served as a treasurer and executive committee member at South American football governing body CONMEBOL.

As well as being banned from any role in football, Osuna was fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1 million).

A FIFA statement announcing his punishment on Thursday specified Osuna's past CONMEBOL roles but not the key position he had within the Zurich-based governing body helping to oversee the reliability of financial reporting processes.

Osuna was charged in the sweeping American criminal case into FIFA officials in 2015, with the indictment saying Osuna "solicited and received millions of dollars in bribe payments during his years as treasurer of CONMEBOL" and "maintained his position as a member of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, a committee in charge of, among other things, developing proposals for organizational reform."

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