The Uruguay Football Federation may revoke the contract it signed with Full Play for TV rights to the Uruguay national team for 2018 World Cup qualifiers, federation general secretary Alejandro Balbi said on Tuesday.
Full Play, sports marketing business based in Argentina, and its affiliates that specialised in securing rights for South American football, is among 14 defendants who have been named by the U.S. Department of Justice in a scandal that has rocked international football.
Swiss federal police arrested seven officials in a FIFA scandal this past May, including FIFA vice presidents from the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL regions, in a raid in Zurich at the request of American authorities.
Most of the alleged schemes are in connection with media and marketing rights associated with FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF region, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the jointly organized CONMEBOL/CONCACAF Copa America Centenario, the CONMEBOL Copa America, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, which is organized by the Brazilian national football federation (CBF).
"Our lawyers are investigating but all signs point to recision," Balbi told the Associated Press. "We can't deliberate for very long with our decision, it must be made quickly because the matches are beginning, qualifying is upon us."
The club members gave the federation a vote of confidence with 14 votes in favor of revocation with no votes against, to authorise the executive committee to strike down the contract if they deem it necessary.
Balbi said that the Uruguay judicial system has denounced Full Play for suspected corruption and money laundering and the case will be heard before judge Adriana de los Santos.
Balbi said he didn't expect the courts to have a quick decision regarding Full Play. The case against Full Play dates back to December of 2013 when eight first-division clubs and the Uruguay players' union alleged that Full Play had TV contract irregularities.
Full Play, is charged with creating another company that was granted the worldwide commercial rights to four editions of Copa America. They allegedly paid $110 million in bribes to ensure those rights.