NEW YORK: US prosecutors urged a New York jury to convict three wealthy South American former football officials “on all counts” in the face of “overwhelming” evidence, delivering closing arguments at the FIFA corruption trial.
“The three defendants thought the payouts would last forever but they won’t,” assistant US attorney Kristin Mace told the federal court in Brooklyn, a day after the defendants declined to take the stand in their own defense.
“They got caught. And it’s time that they are held accountable.
“The evidence is overwhelming,” Mace added, urging the jury to declare the trio “guilty on all counts.”
The defendants are Jose Maria Marin, ex-head of Brazil’s Football Confederation; former FIFA Vice-President Juan Angel Napout, who was elected president of CONMEBOL in 2014; and Manuel Burga, who led soccer in Peru until 2014.
They are charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracies.
But while the defense admits widespread corruption at FIFA, it insists there is no evidence that their clients were paid bribes with jurors expected to begin deliberations with the trial already into a fifth week.
“There was not one penny that they could trace to Juan, not one single transfer,” Napout’s lawyer John Pappalardo said Wednesday.
“There’s no evidence. All they have is theories,” he said. “Those theories are not enough.”
Burga’s lawyer Bruce Udolf trode a similar line. “Burga never got any money at all,” he said. “He didn’t get a dime. The government went too far in this case.”
Marin’s elegantly dressed wife began to pray in the gallery, her eyes moistening and her hands clutching a rosary as she heard the accusations against her husband.
Mace said the defendants were blinded by greed into accepting a combined total of $21.45 million in bribes — Napout $10.5 million, Marin $6.55 million and Burga $4.4 million — in exchange for bestowing television and marketing rights for matches.
She showed the court bank records, company documents and reminded jurors of testimony from throughout the trial, which comes two and a half years after the United States unveiled the largest graft scandal in the history of world football.
“This is a unique look inside a broad and powerful internal conspiracy,” said Mace.
“A conspiracy to enrich the soccer elite of the world, bribe after bribe, year after year at the expense of the organization they were supposed to serve.”
But the defendants are just three of the 42 officials and marketing executives, not to mention three companies, indicted in an exhaustive 236-page complaint detailing 92 separate crimes and 15 corruption schemes to the tune of $200 million.
If convicted, they risk up to 20 years behind bars for the most serious offenses.
Prosecutors pushing for conviction in FIFA trial
Prosecutors pushing for conviction in FIFA trial
Last-minute VAR review saves Al-Ahli as they go top of SPL with victory over Damac
- Al-Ahli’s 1-0 victory against Damac lifts them to first place on 56 points, with Al-Nassr (55) and Al-Hilal (54) yet to play this week
- Al-Qadsiah keep the pressure on, moving to 53 points after 4-0 victory in Eastern Province Derby against Al-Ettifaq
DAMMAM: If anything has taken over the Saudi Pro League’s fan sentiment this season, it’s one line: “the league is being lined up for [insert title challenger here]”. Under every post by broadcaster Thmanyah on X showing a VAR review in favour of one of the title challengers, the sentiment remains the same.
It is why Al-Ahli’s 1-0 victory over Damac in the delayed Matchday 10 opener was quite controversial. The match, highlighted by three goals that had to be checked by VAR in the first half and a last-minute equaliser revoked due to VAR, was no easy task for the Greens.
After all, it isn’t like Damac are easy opposition. Mired in the relegation battle this season with only two wins in 23 games, any casual viewer would think this is an easy three points for the big clubs.
While Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal have all beaten Damac this season, the reality remains that the Knights of the South have only lost seven games out of 27 when facing the Big Four at home since their promotion to the SPL.
Al-Ahli in particular have struggled against Damac. It wasn’t until last season that they secured their first victory in Khamis Mushait. Their previous outings ended with little to celebrate, with late equalisers and winners proving a nightmare for Al-Ahli’s large fanbase in the south.
Despite the victory, Al-Ahli’s struggles against Damac continued. They were lucky not to trail early when the hosts’ first-minute goal was rescinded for offside, and Damac did their best to ensure Matthias Jaissle’s side did not get comfortable.
Whether it was through overloading the space behind Rayan Hamed through Yakou Méïté and Dhari Al-Anezi, or the marauding runs of Morlaye Sylla to pull Zakaria Hawsawi out of position, Damac did their best to ensure Al-Ahli were as uncomfortable as they could possibly be.
On the defensive end, their 5-4-1 box shape prevented Al-Ahli from launching the long balls they’ve been particularly successful with in behind the defence. On one occasion it succeeded, although Ivan Toney was caught offside as he chipped the ball past Kewin.
Al-Ahli would get their goal in the 37th minute. A scramble in the box after a free-kick was delivered by Wenderson Galeno saw Franck Kessié capitalise on a loose ball to open the scoring.
While half-time analysts predicted Damac would continue in a deep block and refrain from taking risks, the reality was starkly different on the pitch. Damac took full control of proceedings after the interval. After all, a result was a must if they intended to escape the relegation zone, however temporary that may be.
The 71st minute saw them give Al-Ahli their biggest scare of the night. After a corner was cleared away from the Al-Ahli defence, Damac’s Abdulrahman Al-Obaid struck a volley from range only for Mendy to produce an acrobatic save to maintain the lead.
Despite holding a valuable lead at a tough stadium, Jaissle’s only substitution until the 88th minute was the inclusion of Feras Al-Brikan in place of Enzo Millot. Al-Ahli’s goal difference remains some way behind Al-Nassr (+39) and Al-Hilal (+37), with Jaissle’s side sitting at +30.
Mendy was ultimately the star of the night for Al-Ahli. An 89th-minute save after Syrian youngster Mohammed Al-Salkhadi wriggled his way to a clear shooting position sent Al-Ahli fans into celebration.
Or so everyone thought. A free-kick deep into stoppage time saw Méïté sneak past the Al-Ahli defence to head in what looked like an equaliser. Al-Ahli’s players immediately pushed for a VAR review, with the referee ultimately ruling out the goal for offside.
Méïté, angered by the decision, approached the referee seconds before full-time in protest. Tensions spilled over on the pitch, with Toney and Jamal Harkass clashing after the disallowed goal.
Tensions continued to flare as the final whistle blew, but Al-Ahli got what they needed: three points and a temporary spot at the top at one of the toughest grounds in the Saudi Pro League.
In Dammam, the Eastern Province’s flagship derby between Al-Qadsiah and Al-Ettifaq took place at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahad Stadium, with the home side looking to keep pressure on the title challengers.
The visitors have enjoyed a period of subtle, gradual improvement since Saudi manager Saad Al-Shehri replaced Steven Gerrard last year. Finding themselves in seventh place before the game with a chance to leapfrog Al-Ittihad and Al-Taawoun, those chances were quickly extinguished within the first 10 minutes.
Al-Qadsiah, already establishing themselves as this season’s dark horses in search of their maiden Saudi Pro League title, continued the high-quality football they’ve enjoyed since the arrival of Brendan Rodgers.
Yet to be defeated under the former Liverpool manager, the Knights of the Eastern Province blitzed to a 2-0 lead before Al-Ettifaq could settle into the game.
Nahitan Nández was the star behind this dominance. In the third minute, he slipped in behind João Costa to receive one of Musab Al-Juwayr’s trademark line-breaking passes and score the opener. Four minutes later, he exploited that space again to create Christopher Bonsu Baah’s goal, once more getting behind Costa thanks to a threaded pass from Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat.
This was Al-Qadsiah at their best, but the reality is, it could have been more. Eight big chances, 20 shots and an xG of 2.83 meant a 2-0 scoreline until stoppage time felt relatively underwhelming given their attacking dominance.
For Al-Ettifaq, it didn’t help that they were missing the services of Mousa Dembélé and Álvaro Medrán through injury and starboy Khalid Al-Ghannam through suspension, limiting their attacking threat.
Matija Gluščević and Koka — deputising for the absent Dembélé and Al-Ghannam — had made only six starts between them this season, with no goal contributions.
It is why Al-Ettifaq looked a shadow of the side that held Al-Nassr to a draw and defeated Al-Ittihad earlier this season. If anything, it resembled how the side looked under Gerrard: unorganised and uninspired.
The fact remains, Al-Qadsiah are a star-studded team with a manager who — until now — has managed them exceptionally well. Their rivals, meanwhile, have yet to return to former glories, and currently resemble more of an upper mid-table side in the landscape of Saudi football today.
A red card was shown to Abdullah Al-Khateeb late on, further compounding Al-Ettifaq’s misery. The hosts added a third in stoppage time, with Julian Quiñones capitalising on a weak save from Marek Rodák to tap in his 22nd goal of the season.
A first goal in an Al-Qadsiah shirt for Julian Weigl followed, as he unleashed a long-range strike past Rodák to seal a dominant victory. If there’s anything this match proved, it’s that — in spite of former glories — Al-Qadsiah are the Eastern Province’s current standard-bearers.
Elsewhere, Al-Shabab continue to enjoy life under new manager Nourredine Ben Zekri with an emphatic 3-1 win against Al-Riyadh. Yannick Carrasco, continuing his stellar run of form since the turn of the year, scored a hat-trick to increase his goal contributions to 15 in 11 games in 2026. Meanwhile, Al-Fateh finally ended their streak of eight games without a win after edging past Al-Okhdood 2-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Tuesday, with Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal travelling to Qassim to face Al-Hazem and Al-Taawoun respectively, as Al-Khaleej welcome Al-Kholood in Dammam. All games kick off at 10:00pm in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
