The deputy from the National Action Party (PAN) Frida Guillén has presented an initiative to prevent and identify operations with resources of illicit origin in Mexican football. This arises after the FIFAGate scandal, where dozens of FIFA officials were accused of receiving illicit payments to favor companies in the awarding of broadcasting rights for tournaments such as the World Cup, including Emilio Azcárraga.
In her speech at the podium, the PAN legislator pointed out that football, being the most popular sport in Mexico, has become an attractive space for organized crime. Through clubs, promoters, and investors, financial operations can be carried out without strict regulation. The proposal seeks to ensure that financial operations related to player acquisitions, investment in teams, and sponsorships are audited by the competent authorities.
Guillén's initiative is backed by recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), aiming to guarantee transparency in the financing of Mexican football. It seeks to prevent football from being used as a channel for money laundering and to close the doors to corruption in this area.
The FIU detected possible illicit operations in Mexican football in 2019, leading to a collaboration agreement with Liga MX to monitor these transactions. However, it is considered necessary to establish legislation that provides legal certainty and prevents football from being used as a refuge for dirty money.
The deputy called on all political forces to support the initiative, emphasizing that it seeks not only to protect the integrity of Mexican football, but also the trust of the millions of fans who see this sport as a source of inspiration and overcoming.
FIFAGate is a corruption scandal that has rocked world football since 2015 and implicated FIFA officials in illicit payments to favor companies in the awarding of broadcasting rights for tournaments, like the World Cup. Amid this scandal, Televisa was accused of allegedly bribing high officials to obtain broadcasting rights for various World Cups.
Despite the cooperation of some Televisa executives with U.S. authorities, in 2023 the company reached an agreement to pay 95 million dollars in a class action lawsuit filed by investors in the United States, who claimed that the company artificially inflated the value of its shares by hiding the bribes used to obtain the broadcasting rights. With this agreement, Televisa sought to resolve one of the legal fronts arising from FIFAGate.
