Former FIFA soccer official pleads guilty in bribery scandal

Former FIFA soccer official pleads guilty in bribery scandal

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:20 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) A former vice president of soccer's international governing body has pleaded guilty to four conspiracy counts in the sweeping FIFA (FEE'-fuh) bribery scandal over lucrative broadcast rights.

Prosecutors in New York said Alfredo Hawit (hah-WEET') accepted bribes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to the sale of marketing rights to tournaments in Latin America.

Monday's plea is part of a case involving more than 40 people from around the world. Prosecutors have said soccer officials have taken hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payments in the last 25 years.

The Honduras native also served as interim president of the North and Central American and Caribbean soccer governing body, CONCACAF (KAHN'-kuh-kaf), from June until his Dec. 3 arrest.

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Hawit was extradited from Switzerland earlier this year.

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