Ex-Salvadoran soccer boss pleads guilty to bribery charge

The Associated Press

New York (AP) — The former president of El Salvador’s soccer federation has pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to a corruption charge in the long-running FIFA bribery scandal. In remote proceedings, Reynaldo Vasquez pleaded guilty Monday to racketeering conspiracy for accepting bribes in exchange for awarding media and marketing rights for games played by the Salvadoran national soccer team. Salvadoran authorities arrested Vasquez at the end of 2015 as part of an international roundup of top officials of FIFA, soccer’s governing body. He had denied the charges while putting up a failed extradition fight in El Salvador. Vasquez, who said he led the Salvadoran soccer federation from June 2009 to July 2011, agreed to forfeit $360,000. He faces up to 20 years in prison.