Grupo Televisa has settled a complaint related to FIFA bribery accusations.
The major Mexican broadcaster agreed to pay $95 million in a settlement with a group of investors. The investors said that a bribery scandal damaged Televisa’s brand and hurt its stock price, which has fallen 50% over the past 12 months.
Televisa is accused of bribing FIFA to secure World Cup rights in 2018, 2022, 2026, and 2030. The broadcaster has denied the allegations. The claim came out in a case against 21st Century Fox, which is also accused of bribing FIFA officials to win media rights.
The all-cash settlement still needs to be approved by a judge.
Televisa has endured a turbulent start to the year. Substantial gains in its stock price were largely wiped out by a poor earnings report in February, along with the acknowledgement that a planned merger with Megacable would not go through.
FIFA is no stranger to bribery accusations. Witnesses claim that Qatari officials bought votes to secure the 2022 World Cup at around $1 million per vote. Similar claims have been made about Russia, which hosted the World Cup in 2018.
