International Football
JUDGE BECOMES FIFA SCANDAL’S FIRST CASUALTY
Former boss of the Guatemala football federation, Hector Trujillo, has become the first person to be sentenced in the United States over the corruption scandal that broke out last year in FIFA.
Hector Trujillo, 63, incidentally is a former judge. He is sentenced to eight month imprisonment by a US federal court in Brooklyn. He had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in June.
Trujillo admitted accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes from a company trying to secure sports marketing contracts.
Prosecutors said the former general secretary of Guatemala’s soccer federation should serve more than three years in prison and pay $415,000 in restitution.
Defense lawyers asked for no prison time for crimes between 2009 and 2016.
According to Trujillo’s plea agreement, he would not contest any sentence less than four years and nine months in prison.
Trujillo also agreed to forfeit $175,000. Free on $4 million bail, he has been staying in Miami.
He was arrested in December 2015 in Port Canaveral, Florida, during a Disney cruise with his family.
Prosecutors said in pre-sentence papers that Trujillo minimized the seriousness of his crime by noting that he did not violate the laws of Guatemala, even as he indisputably broke FIFA rules.
“While the defendant may not have played the largest role or pocketed the most money of all of the defendants in the case, his conduct nevertheless shows that he engaged in the same type of conduct as the rest of the corrupt soccer officials who have been charged,” prosecutors wrote. “And that corrupt conduct requires a significant sentence.”
Defense lawyers had asked for leniency, saying the prosecution had ended Trujillo’s “successful and prominent career and tarnished his spotless reputation as a respected jurist and advocate.”
They said his arrest had forced him to resign from his position as an alternate judge on Guatemala’s constitutional court.
They also cited debilitating back and hip pain that worsened during several weeks of incarceration after his arrest and his subsequent home confinement.
The U.S. investigation of corruption linked to FIFA has resulted in indictments or guilty pleas from more than 40 people and marketing agencies linked to soccer in the Americas since 2015.
Many of the charges involve bribes paid around the organization of regional tournaments and World Cup qualifying games.
Prosecutors in Switzerland also have been investigating. FIFA also has conducted internal investigations of corruption and self-dealing.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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