NEW YORK — Following a prolonged legal dispute, U.S. prosecutors informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday of their intent to abandon efforts to uphold the convictions of a former Fox executive and a South American sports media firm in a corruption case linked to television rights for global soccer competitions.
Hernan Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, and Full Play Group SA were found guilty in 2023 after a trial in New York, but were later acquitted by a judge.
An appeals court reinstated the convictions in July, but further appeals ensued, leaving the outcome of the prosecution uncertain.
Prosecutors indicated to the Supreme Court that the government has now concluded that «dismissing this criminal case serves the interests of justice,» although they did not elaborate on their reasoning. They requested that the case be returned to a lower court to consider a motion for dismissal of the indictment.
Attorneys for Full Play and Lopez did not respond immediately to requests for comments.
This filing came after a prior high court ruling that has complicated the process for securing corruption convictions, along with changes made by the Trump administration regarding the enforcement of public corruption cases.
This year, the federal government has moved to reduce the section of Justice Department prosecutors tasked with pursuing fraud and corruption cases against public officials, and President Donald Trump had previously paused a law that prevents individuals or companies operating in the U.S. from providing money or gifts to foreign officials for the purpose of securing or maintaining contracts.
The U.S. is slated to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Trump, a Republican, maintains a close relationship with Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, and was awarded a new FIFA peace prize last week.
Fox Corp., which separated from an international channels subsidiary during a 2019 restructuring, was not implicated in the bribery scandal and has denied any wrongdoing.
