Who Are Hugo And Mariano Jinkis? FIFA Corruption Scandal Explained

Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis are Argentine sports-marketing executives whose company, Full Play Group, became one of the central corporate players in the sprawling FIFA corruption scandal known as “FIFA Gate.” U.S. prosecutors accused the Jinkises and Full Play of participating in schemes that paid millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to South American and CONCACAF soccer officials in exchange for valuable television and marketing rights to tournaments including the Copa América, Copa Libertadores, World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies. The Jinkises were indicted by U.S. authorities in May 2015 on racketeering, wire-fraud and money-laundering-related charges but were not extradited from Argentina. Their company was later convicted in a separate U.S. trial in 2023, although that conviction went through years of appeals before the Justice Department ultimately asked to dismiss the case against Full Play in 2026. The dismissal of Full Play’s case did not erase the broader record of guilty pleas, convictions and sworn testimony establishing extensive bribery throughout international soccer.

Who Are Hugo And Mariano Jinkis?

Hugo Jinkis And Mariano Jinkis Controlled Full Play Group. The father and son were controlling principals of Full Play Group S.A., a sports-media and marketing company incorporated in Uruguay and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Federal prosecutors said the Jinkises each owned 50% of the company. [DOJ] [Court Records]

Full Play Bought And Sold Soccer Broadcasting And Marketing Rights. The company acquired commercial rights connected to national teams, tournaments and international matches and then sold those rights to television networks, advertisers, sponsors and other media companies.

Those Rights Were Extremely Valuable. Exclusive rights to competitions such as the Copa América and Copa Libertadores could generate large amounts of revenue, creating intense competition among sports-marketing companies seeking contracts from CONMEBOL and individual national soccer federations.

The FIFA Corruption Investigation

U.S. Prosecutors Unveiled The FIFA Case In May 2015. The Justice Department charged nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives as part of an investigation led by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. [DOJ]

The Case Alleged Decades Of Corruption In International Soccer. Prosecutors accused officials from FIFA, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF of accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for commercial rights and other favorable decisions.

Hugo And Mariano Jinkis Were Among The Business Executives Indicted. Prosecutors identified them as the controlling principals of Full Play and accused them of participating in the bribery schemes. [DOJ]

The Copa América Bribery Scheme

Full Play Wanted The Rights To The Copa América. According to prosecutors and later trial evidence, Full Play began trying to replace rival sports-marketing company Traffic as the primary commercial rights holder for the tournament around 2010. [Supreme Court Records]

Mariano Jinkis Was Accused Of Offering $1 Million Bribes To Multiple Federation Presidents. Trial records described an arrangement in which presidents of six South American national federations — Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela — would each receive $1 million for supporting Full Play’s Copa América contract. [Supreme Court Records]

The Six Officials Were Known As The “Group Of Six.” They had formed a political bloc inside CONMEBOL and became important votes in determining who would control lucrative commercial rights.

The Contract Covered Multiple Future Copa América Tournaments. Full Play and its partners ultimately obtained rights associated with the 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023 editions of the tournament.

Luis Bedoya Testifies About The Bribes

Former Colombian Soccer Federation President Luis Bedoya Became A Government Witness. Bedoya pleaded guilty to racketeering and wire-fraud conspiracy before testifying about how bribery operated within CONMEBOL. [CBS]

Bedoya Said He And Other Federation Presidents Agreed To Receive Full Play Bribes. He testified that the six federation presidents were each to receive a $1 million payment in two installments in exchange for awarding Copa América commercial rights to Full Play. [CBS]

His Testimony Directly Implicated Mariano Jinkis. Bedoya described Jinkis as one of the executives involved in discussing the arrangement.

Alleged $15 Million Qatar World Cup Bribe Pool

Bedoya Also Testified About A Separate Alleged $15 Million Bribery Proposal Connected To Qatar. At the 2017 FIFA corruption trial, Bedoya said Mariano Jinkis introduced him to a Qatari television representative before the FIFA executive committee vote selecting the host of the 2022 World Cup. [CBS]

Bedoya Said He Was Told As Much As $15 Million Could Be Available For South American Officials. According to his testimony, Jinkis later joked that they “could have made some money there.” [CBS]

The Testimony Did Not Establish That The Jinkises Personally Paid $15 Million To Secure Qatar’s World Cup Vote. The allegation concerned conversations and a potential pool of money. It should be distinguished from the more extensively documented bribery schemes involving commercial soccer rights.

Copa Libertadores Bribery

Full Play Was Also Accused Of Paying For Copa Libertadores Rights. U.S. prosecutors said the company participated in bribery schemes involving CONMEBOL officials to secure rights to South America’s premier club tournament. [DOJ]

Millions Of Dollars In Annual Payments Were Allegedly Used To Maintain Favorable Relationships. The government’s case described a business environment in which marketing companies routinely paid soccer officials to preserve or obtain valuable contracts.

World Cup Qualifiers And Friendly Matches

The Full Play Allegations Extended Beyond Major Tournaments. Prosecutors said the company paid bribes connected with media and marketing rights to World Cup qualifying matches and international friendlies. [DOJ]

That Made Full Play Part Of A Broader Commercial Corruption System. The alleged schemes were not limited to a single contract or competition but concerned multiple categories of South American soccer rights.

More Than $14 Million In Alleged Bribes

Investigations Linked Full Play Accounts To More Than $14 Million In Payments. Financial investigations and later court material documented dozens of payments associated with soccer officials.

Accounts Were Connected To Companies Including Cross Trading, Bayan And Yorkfields. Prosecutors alleged that Full Play and related entities used these companies as part of the financial infrastructure through which payments moved. [Court Records]

The Complex Corporate Structure Helped Obscure The Flow Of Money. Offshore companies and financial intermediaries became a recurring feature throughout the wider FIFA corruption investigation.

Panama Papers Reveal Offshore Connections

The Panama Papers Linked The Jinkises To Offshore Company Cross Trading. Documents obtained from law firm Mossack Fonseca showed that Hugo and Mariano Jinkis were connected to Cross Trading, a company incorporated offshore and later moved to Nevada. [ICIJ] [OCCRP]

The Leak Also Created A Conflict-Of-Interest Controversy For A FIFA Ethics Official. Juan Pedro Damiani, a member of FIFA’s Independent Ethics Committee, had a law firm that performed work connected with companies associated with figures implicated in the FIFA scandal, including the Jinkises. [ICIJ]

The Revelation Raised Questions About FIFA’s Own Ethics Oversight. The body responsible for investigating corruption contained a member whose law practice had relationships with people under scrutiny in the same corruption scandal.

Israeli Bank Hapoalim Admits Role In FIFA Bribe Payments

Bank Hapoalim And Its Swiss Subsidiary Reached A Major U.S. Settlement In 2020. The bank agreed to pay more than $30 million to resolve allegations that it helped facilitate payments connected to soccer corruption.

Prosecutors Said More Than $20 Million In Bribe And Kickback Payments Passed Through The Bank. The transactions involved sports-marketing companies and soccer officials implicated in the FIFA investigation.

The Banking Case Provided Independent Evidence Of The Financial Infrastructure Supporting The Soccer Bribery Schemes.

The Jinkises Surrender In Argentina

Hugo And Mariano Jinkis Did Not Travel To The United States After Their Indictment. Instead, they surrendered to Argentine authorities in June 2015 after the U.S. charges were announced.

The United States Requested Their Extradition. Argentine federal prosecutors initially argued that the legal requirements for extradition had been satisfied. [Argentina Prosecutors]

The Jinkises Fought Extradition In Argentine Courts. They remained in Argentina rather than being transferred to Brooklyn to face the U.S. criminal case.

Interpol Issues Red Notices

Interpol Issued Red Notices For Hugo And Mariano Jinkis. The notices were requested because U.S. authorities sought them for prosecution. [DOJ/Interpol]

A Red Notice Is Not An International Arrest Warrant. It alerts member countries that a jurisdiction seeks to locate and potentially arrest a person for extradition, but Interpol itself cannot order an arrest. [DOJ/Interpol]

U.S. Authorities Continued Describing The Jinkises As Fugitives. When Full Play was convicted in 2023, the Justice Department said Hugo and Mariano remained fugitives from the U.S. charges. [DOJ]

Argentina Launches Its Own Investigation

Argentine Prosecutors Also Investigated The Jinkises. In July 2015, Argentina’s economic crime prosecution office filed allegations involving public fraud and money laundering connected to soccer broadcasting rights. [Argentina Prosecutors]

The Case Concerned Rights That Were Resold To The Argentine Government. Prosecutors alleged that companies obtained soccer rights through corrupt payments and then sold those rights to the state at inflated prices. [Argentina Prosecutors]

Full Play Goes To Trial Without The Jinkises

Full Play Itself Was Prosecuted In The United States Even Though Its Owners Were Not Present. Federal prosecutors charged the corporate entity alongside former Fox International Channels executive Hernán López.

A Brooklyn Jury Convicted Full Play In March 2023. The company was found guilty of wire-fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy involving payments to soccer officials. [DOJ]

The Jury Found That Full Play Participated In Multiple Bribery Schemes. The government’s proof concerned Copa América, Copa Libertadores, World Cup qualifier and friendly-match rights. [DOJ]

The Verdict Was A Corporate Conviction, Not A Personal Conviction Of Hugo Or Mariano Jinkis. The Jinkises themselves had not been tried in the United States.

Judge Overturns Full Play’s Conviction

U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen Set Aside The 2023 Verdict. She ruled that subsequent Supreme Court precedent had narrowed the federal honest-services fraud law in ways that undermined the prosecution theory.

The Ruling Did Not Declare That The Bribe Payments Never Happened. It focused on whether the conduct could legally be prosecuted using the specific federal statutes charged by the government.

Appeals Court Reinstates The Conviction

The Second Circuit Reversed Chen In July 2025. The federal appeals court concluded that the bribery theory could fall within the honest-services fraud statute and directed that the convictions be reinstated. [Supreme Court Records]

Full Play Asked The U.S. Supreme Court To Intervene. The company argued that U.S. honest-services law should not be used to prosecute foreign commercial bribery involving foreign soccer organizations. [Supreme Court Records]

Supreme Court Vacates The Full Play Judgment

The Supreme Court Acted On January 12, 2026. It granted Full Play’s petition, vacated the appeals court judgment and sent the case back for further consideration because the Justice Department had already moved to dismiss the indictment. [Supreme Court]

The Supreme Court Did Not Issue A Sweeping Ruling Declaring Full Play Innocent. Its order was procedural and reflected the government’s decision that it no longer wanted to continue the prosecution.

Trump Justice Department Drops The Full Play Case

The Justice Department Asked To Dismiss The Case During Donald Trump’s Second Administration. Federal prosecutors said continuing the prosecution no longer represented an appropriate use of department resources. [Reuters]

The U.S. Attorney Said The Case Did Not Match The Administration’s Enforcement Priorities. Prosecutors said resources were instead being prioritized for terrorism, national-security threats, violent crime, gangs, drugs and human trafficking. [Reuters]

Judge Chen Initially Asked The Government To Explain The Decision In Greater Detail. Because Full Play and López had already been convicted by a jury and their convictions had been reinstated on appeal, the request to abandon the prosecution drew unusual judicial scrutiny. [DOJ Court Filing]

Judge Dismisses The Full Play Indictment

Judge Chen Granted The Justice Department’s Request On May 27, 2026. The indictment against Full Play and Hernán López was dismissed, ending that portion of the long-running FIFA prosecution. [AP]

The Dismissal Ended Full Play’s Corporate Criminal Case. The company no longer faces the convictions returned by the 2023 jury.

The Justice Department Said The Decision Was Limited To This Particular Case. Prosecutors stressed that they were not attempting to undo the dozens of other FIFA corruption convictions and guilty pleas obtained since 2015. [AP]

The Dismissal Does Not Erase The FIFA Bribery Evidence

Multiple Soccer Officials Pleaded Guilty And Admitted Taking Bribes. The broader FIFA investigation produced guilty pleas from numerous executives and officials, including witnesses who testified directly about payments from sports-marketing companies.

Luis Bedoya Admitted Receiving Bribe Payments. His testimony concerning Full Play and Mariano Jinkis was given under oath after Bedoya had pleaded guilty himself. [CBS]

Other Courts And FIFA Proceedings Have Also Relied On Evidence Concerning Full Play Payments. A Court of Arbitration for Sport decision involving former Brazilian federation president Ricardo Teixeira described evidence that he received money in connection with the Full Play Copa América contract. [CAS]

The Legal Question In The Full Play Appeal Was Largely About The Reach Of U.S. Criminal Law. It was not simply a factual dispute over whether soccer officials had accepted money.

What Has And Has Not Been Established

It Is Established That Hugo And Mariano Jinkis Controlled Full Play Group. U.S. charging documents and court records identify them as the company’s controlling principals. [DOJ]

It Is Established That U.S. Prosecutors Indicted Both Men In 2015. The charges included allegations involving racketeering, fraud and money laundering arising from the soccer corruption investigation. [DOJ]

It Is Established That Multiple Witnesses Testified About Full Play Bribes. Former soccer federation officials admitted participating in corrupt arrangements and described payments associated with the company. [CBS]

Hugo And Mariano Jinkis Have Not Been Personally Convicted In A U.S. Trial. Their U.S. indictments should therefore not be described as personal criminal convictions.

Full Play Was Convicted By A Jury In 2023, But That Prosecution Was Ultimately Dismissed In 2026. The dismissal followed years of litigation over whether U.S. federal fraud law could legally reach the conduct charged. [DOJ] [AP]

The 2026 Dismissal Does Not Amount To A Finding That The Bribery Evidence Was Fabricated. The Justice Department said it was dropping the case because of enforcement priorities and resource considerations, while preserving other FIFA corruption convictions. [Reuters]

The Jinkis Story Remains One Of The Central Business-Side Chapters Of FIFA Gate. Their company’s pursuit of South American broadcasting rights, the testimony of soccer officials and the international financial trail illustrate how commercial-rights deals became a primary mechanism for corruption inside international soccer.