The South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, has been dismissed from an antitrust case brought against it and other defendants in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
CONMEBOL was represented by Carey Rodriguez Milian LLP and Amsterdam & Partners LLP in the lawsuit filed by GolTV, Inc. and Global Sports Partners LLP, companies owned by Uruguayan soccer magnate Francisco Casal.
GolTV claimed to have bid far more than its competitors to secure exclusive rights to air two South American soccer tournaments. It didn't receive the contracts, the suit alleges, because of bribes paid by competitors to former CONMEBOL executives in exchange for those rights.
Noting that the alleged action would entail a significant loss of revenue for CONMEBOL, the defense successfully argued that "the bad actors promoted their own financial self-interest, directly adverse to CONMEBOL," and that the confederation cannot be penalized for alleged wrongdoing by former employees, of which it, itself, would have been a victim.
The court granted CONMEBOL’s motion to dismiss on this basis and because the South American organization's contacts within the forum were insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction.
With CONMEBOL dismissed from the litigation, the remaining defendants will now address the substantive validity of the allegations.
Read the full dismissal order here and see the press release here.
