A fawning letter from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch to one of the world’s top soccer officials in 2011 was read to jurors in a New York bribery trial to show just how much the network coveted the chance to win broadcast rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
(Bloomberg) — A fawning letter from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch to one of the world’s top soccer officials in 2011 was read to jurors in a New York bribery trial to show just how much the network coveted the chance to win broadcast rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
Murdoch, who isn’t accused of wrongdoing, wrote to FIFA vice president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter in October 2011 to say the Fox Network would “be bidding aggressively” for the broadcast rights, which were eventually awarded to Fox.
“I have watched with awe as FIFA, under your leadership, has continued to consolidate and grow football as the world’s premier sport,” Murdoch wrote, according to the letter entered into evidence in the bribery case. “Sepp, the key part of our bid (apart from the money, of course!) is that we — like you — believe in the growth of soccer in the United States.”
Federal prosecutors read the letter in a Brooklyn court recently during the criminal trial of 21st Century Fox sports executive Hernan Lopez, who is accused of getting secret, “nonpublic information” on rival bids from Julio Grondona, then a high-ranking FIFA official. Fox isn’t accused of wrongdoing.
The cases against Lopez and Martinez are part of an international crackdown on cheating at FIFA, soccer’s governing body. The investigation brought down some of the biggest names in the sport, including Blatter, who was ousted as FIFA’s president after 17 years in the role.
Alejandro Burzaco, a former sports-marketing official and a star government witness, testified in the New York trial that he passed Grondona’s information to Lopez, helping Fox outbid competitor ESPN, which had held the rights to soccer’s premier tournament in the fall of 2011.
Burzaco testified Grondona told him “ESPN and Fox were the biggest contenders,” and advised him to tell Lopez, “if Fox puts $400 million they are going to award it to Fox, tell your friends.”
John Skipper, a former ESPN executive, testified that while his company put in a $400 million bid for the two tournaments, Fox eventually secured the rights with their joint bid of $425 million.
Another former Fox executive, Carlos Martinez, also is on trial in Brooklyn for allegedly paying bribes. Both Lopez and Martinez have pleaded not guilty and Lopez’s lawyer John Gleeson told jurors in his opening statement that Burzaco had “a track record of lies and deceit.”
Read More: FIFA Signaled ‘Open for Bribes’ With 2010 Awards, Witness Says
The case is US v Webb, 15-CR-252, US District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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