Millions of dollars originally recovered from the sprawling 2015 FIFA corruption scandal may have disappeared again, with new allegations surfacing against the head of South American football. CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez is reportedly facing an ethics complaint accusing him of receiving millions from these recovered funds. The complaint, brought forward by a whistleblower with direct knowledge of the payments, suggests a potential relapse into the corrupt practices that the 2015 investigation sought to eradicate.
Information available with The Chenab Times indicates that the ethics committee of FIFA has been aware of the complaint against Dominguez for over a year. Dominguez, a significant figure in global football governance and a vice-president of FIFA, is at the center of allegations that he, along with another senior CONMEBOL official, may have received over $5 million. This development comes at a particularly sensitive time, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to commence in just a few months.
The 2015 FIFA corruption scandal, a landmark investigation primarily led by U.S. authorities, exposed widespread bribery, fraud, and money laundering within the sport’s governing bodies. Numerous high-ranking officials were indicted, leading to a significant restructuring of FIFA and a renewed emphasis on transparency and ethical standards. The scandal involved intricate schemes of illicit payments related to media and marketing rights for major tournaments, with allegations reaching the highest levels of FIFA management and involving bribery connected to the awarding of World Cup hosting rights.
The current allegations against Dominguez are particularly concerning given CONMEBOL’s role in the original scandal. The recovered funds were intended to be repatriated for football development. The complaint specifically targets the alleged re-diversion of these monies, suggesting a potential breach of the integrity measures put in place after the 2015 crackdown. While CONMEBOL has stated it is unaware of an ethics complaint, the revelations have reignited concerns about accountability within international football leadership.
Dominguez ascended to the presidency of CONMEBOL in January 2016, following the arrest of his predecessor, Juan Ángel Napout, amid the FIFA corruption investigations. Napout was later extradited to the United States and convicted on racketeering and wire fraud conspiracy charges. At the time of the indictments, Dominguez was the president of the Paraguayan Football Association. Despite the shadow of the scandal, Dominguez has been re-elected multiple times, most recently in June 2025 for a term extending through at least 2029. He also holds a position as a FIFA vice-president and chairs its Finance Committee.
Evidence from a 2017 forensic investigation into CONMEBOL by auditors Ernst & Young reportedly named Dominguez as having received at least $374,000 without supporting documentation. This audit was commissioned at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice as a condition for CONMEBOL to be considered a victim, not part of a criminal organization. The audit examined over 20,000 documents from the period between 2011 and 2015. The findings reportedly named Dominguez alongside other former South American football leaders who received payments, many of whom were indicted in the 2015 FIFAgate case, including former CONMEBOL presidents Nicolás Leoz and Juan Ángel Napout.
The timing of these renewed allegations is critical, occurring just months before the United States, Canada, and Mexico are set to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The scandal’s reverberations have also been felt in national federations, with reports of corruption cases like ‘AFA Gate’ in Argentina implicating the country’s football association president, Claudio Tapia, and its treasurer, Pablo Toviggino, over allegedly misappropriated funds. These cases draw unsettling comparisons to the original FIFA Gate scandal, highlighting ongoing challenges in maintaining financial integrity within the sport.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s role in pursuing such cases has also come under scrutiny, with a recent decision to drop a landmark bribery case against a former Fox executive and Argentina’s Full Play Group, just months before the World Cup. This development has been seen by some as a convenient retreat from U.S. anti-corruption enforcement in sports, particularly given the history of investigations into broadcast rights and alleged payments to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF officials linked to major tournaments, including World Cup qualifiers and the Copa Libertadores.
While FIFA has stated that Dominguez’s administration has overseen revenue growth and the recovery of significant funds, the latest ethics complaint casts a long shadow. The allegations suggest that the efforts to clean up football governance in the wake of the 2015 scandal may still be undermined by ongoing issues of transparency and accountability, potentially impacting the credibility of the sport as it approaches its premier global event.
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Global Affairs Desk at The Chenab Times covers international developments, global diplomacy, and foreign policy issues through fact-based reporting, explainers, and analytical pieces. The desk focuses on major geopolitical events, diplomatic engagements, and international trends, with an emphasis on verified information, multiple perspectives, and contextual understanding of global affairs.
