MEXICO CITY (AP) — Emilio Azcárraga has stepped down as chief executive of Televisa because he is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice because of a FIFA-related issue, the company informed in its third quarter report to Mexico’s stock market.
The 56-year-old Azcárraga took a leave of absence “with immediate effect” from the position he's held since the death of his same-name father in 1997.
Televisa, the world's largest producer of Spanish content, said in the report this week that it decided on Aug. 30 the departure of Azcárraga and it was “still cooperating with the investigation.”
Last year, Televisa settled a lawsuit against it by investors in the United States who accused it of bribing FIFA officials to obtain broadcasting rights for the 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030 World Cups.
The latest announcement hit the company's stock, which suffered an 8.65% loss in the first hours of Friday trading.
In 2017, Alejandro Burzaco testified that Televisa, alongside Brazilian media giant Globo, teamed with a marketing firm to make a $15 million bribe to a FIFA executive to help them secure broadcasting rights to the World Cups of 2026 and 2030.
Burzaco, a key witness at a U.S. bribery trial, testified that the deal was struck with long-time FIFA finance committee chairman Julio Grondona at a 2013 meeting in Zurich.
Back then, Televisa denied any wrongdoing in how it obtained the broadcasting rights for those World Cups.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.
Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.
They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...
See The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
