Court Officially Clears Hernan Lopez in Bribery Case

A federal court has dismissed the long-running bribery case against Hernan Lopez and Full Play Group, ending a prosecution that began more than six years ago with allegations tied to FIFA corruption. On May 27, U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen formally granted the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the indictments with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be brought again.

Lopez, the former head of Fox International Channels, had consistently denied wrongdoing. He was convicted in 2023 alongside sports marketing company Full Play Group in a case centered on alleged payments to FIFA officials in South America. Prosecutors said the scheme involved millions of dollars in annual bribes from 2000 to 2015 in exchange for valuable soccer broadcasting rights and confidential information related to World Cup bids.

The case has moved through several major reversals. In September 2023, Chen granted Lopez’s motion for acquittal and also overturned Full Play’s conviction. Last summer, however, a federal appeals court reversed Chen’s ruling and reinstated the convictions. Then in December 2025, the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case in the “interests of justice,” leading to the final dismissal this week.

The original indictment, filed in April 2020, also named former 21st Century Fox executive Carlos Martinez. Prosecutors alleged Martinez was part of the same conspiracy involving payments to FIFA officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to the Copa Libertadores club tournament and for inside information connected to the U.S. broadcast rights for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Martinez was acquitted by a Brooklyn jury in 2023.

Lopez’s career since leaving Fox has shifted into entrepreneurship. In 2016, he founded the podcast studio and network Wondery, which was later sold to Amazon in a deal completed in early 2021. More recently, he launched Owl & Co., a consulting and research firm, in 2024.

The dismissal closes a major chapter in one of the sports media industry’s most closely watched corruption cases, which had drawn attention for its links to FIFA, South American soccer broadcasting rights and the broader U.S. investigation into international football bribery.