Hugo and Mariano Jinkis paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to football officials. They've now admitted it, struck a deal with US prosecutors, and agreed to forfeit $50 million. No trial. Just accountability — of a sort.
The father-and-son co-owners of Argentine sports marketing firm Full Play were swept up in the 2015 FIFA corruption investigation that shook the sport's entire power structure. That probe — which included dawn raids on FIFA officials in Zurich — triggered arrests, trials, and a cascade of guilty pleas across two continental confederations. The Jinkises were among the names charged. Eleven years later, they've finally entered a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), meaning fraud charges get dropped in exchange for cooperation and the $50 million forfeiture.
What they actually bought
The bribes weren't random. According to US court filings, the Jinkises used Full Play to purchase influence with executives at FIFA, CONCACAF, and CONMEBOL — specifically to secure media and marketing rights to tournaments including World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America. These are some of the most-watched football properties on the planet, worth hundreds of millions in broadcast revenue. The bribery wasn't a rounding error. It was the business model.
The DPA framework means prosecutors hold the charges in abeyance — if the Jinkises comply with the agreement's terms, those charges eventually disappear. It's a common tool in US white-collar cases, and a far softer landing than conviction. Still, $50 million forfeited and a formal admission of guilt isn't nothing.
- Hugo and Mariano Jinkis co-own Full Play, an Argentine sports marketing company
- Both charged following the landmark 2015 FIFA corruption investigation
- Admitted to bribing officials across FIFA, CONCACAF, and CONMEBOL
- Secured media rights to World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America through those bribes
- Agreed to forfeit $50 million under the deferred prosecution agreement
For the integrity of football's commercial rights ecosystem, this matters. Anyone pricing South American tournament broadcast deals — or tracking how CONMEBOL distributes future media contracts — is operating in a landscape that was, for years, being rigged by the people writing the cheques. The Jinkises admitted exactly that in open court.
The charges are deferred, not dismissed. The $50 million is gone.
