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FIFA to receive $200m of seized assets

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is to hand over more than $200 million, seized as part of a corruption probe, to world football’s governing body FIFA.

The department granted a joint petition for remission, which allows victims of crimes to be repaid from assets forfeited during such investigations.

The DoJ said that prosecutions under the probe had so far resulted in charges against more than 50 individuals and corporate defendants, from more than 20 countries.

The charges were mainly linked to offers and receipts of bribes and kickbacks, paid by sports marketing companies to football officials in exchange for media and marketing rights to various football tournaments and events.

‘Toxic’

FIFA said that the funds would go into a newly-formed World Football Remission Fund, established under the auspices of its FIFA Foundation, to help finance football-related projects across the world.

The body added that money from the fund would be earmarked for projects within CONCACAF and CONMEBOL – the governing bodies for North and Central America, and South America respectively – as they had suffered most from the illegal activities.

“I am delighted to see that money which was illegally siphoned out of football is now coming back to be used for its proper purposes, as it should have been in the first place,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino (pictured).

He praised the US authorities, saying that their intervention in 2015 had enabled FIFA to change from what he called “a toxic organisation”. Infantino was elected in 2016, after the fall-out from the corruption scandal ended the 17-year reign of Sepp Blatter.