By Paul Nicholson
October 22 – The day after CONCACAF announced their new Partner Code of Conduct to regulate and set protocols for working with outside partners, the confederation has revealed it is ending its relationship with Datisa, one of the sports marketing agencies at the centre of the bribery and money laundering scandals that have rocked football in the Americas.
Two days ago CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, similarly ended their relationship with Datisa.
CONCACAF had just one commercial rights agreement with Datisa which was for the 2016 Copa America Centenario, scheduled to take place in the US, the first time the tournament has been played outside the South American continent and which, for this edition, will incorporate five CONCACAF teams into the championship.
The confederation said that the end of this relationship will not impact the marketing and operations of other CONCACAF tournaments.
What it does mean is that the way is now cleared for the crucial TV broadcast and sponsorship sales for the 2016 event to progress with new sports marketing partners.
The statement said: “CONCACAF and Datisa have agreed to end their relationship for the sale of sponsorship and broadcast rights associated with Copa America Centenario. CONCACAF will assume control of its commercial rights while it, CONMEBOL and their local operating partners identify and select new partners to market and sell the tournament’s commercial rights using a new and transparent process.”
Datisa was set up in 2013 principally to handle broadcast rights for the Copa America. The main partners in the company were father and son Mariano and Hugo Jinkis (also owners of the Full Play agency in Argentina), and Torneos y Competencias CEO Alejandro Burzaco, also Argentinian. Brazil’s leafing sports marketing agency Traffic was also a partner.
All three Argentinians are central figures in the US Department of Justice indictments and accused of various counts of offering and paying bribes to secure marketing rights, and money laundering. Burzaco is currently held in New York and believed to be co-operating with prosecutors, while the Jinkis’s are currently on bail in Buenos Aires waiting for a ruling on whether they will be extradited to the US.
The ending of the contract with Datisa is no surprise considering the allegations currently facing its ownership group. What is perhaps more surprising is the length of time it took to end the relationship.
But what the cancellation does do is remove an uncomfortable barrier that the US federation in particular was having difficulty overcoming in terms of hosting the 2016 tournament.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734880895labto1734880895ofdlr1734880895owedi1734880895sni@n1734880895osloh1734880895cin.l1734880895uap1734880895