A federal court in Brooklyn vacated corruption charges Wednesday against two defendants convicted in the U.S. crackdown on FIFA bribery, after the Trump administration said the cases no longer fit its prosecutorial priorities, Bloomberg reported. 

U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen granted the Justice Department’s request to vacate the convictions of Hernan Lopez, former chief executive of Fox International Channels, and Full Play Group SA, an Argentine marketing company, saying she had little authority to resist the government’s position, Bloomberg said. Chen cited a Manhattan judge’s dismissal of the federal corruption case against former New York Mayor Eric Adams at the Trump administration’s request as precedent for her decision.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella told the court the Justice Department “has decided that it does not want to use its resources to pursue the prosecution of this case, because it does not fit within the administration’s priorities,” listing those priorities as narcotics trafficking, homeland security, human trafficking, violent crimes, and violent gangs, according to Bloomberg. 

On Wednesday, Chen said she would also consider dismissal requests from four additional defendants, without specifying a timeline.

The ruling has the potential to impact dozens of other FIFA-related convictions and put hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution at risk, the news outlet said.

Lopez and Full Play Group were convicted at trial in 2023, with their convictions unanimously upheld on appeal last July. Sauer’s announcement that the government would abandon the cases came one month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited President Donald Trump at the White House, and days after FIFA awarded Trump its inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize,” according to the report.

The underlying prosecutions had exposed a 24-year conspiracy to bribe high-ranking FIFA officials with six-figure sums for broadcast and media rights. More than 50 individuals and corporate defendants from at least 20 countries were charged, resulting in guilty pleas from more than 30 people and entities and trial convictions of three individuals and one corporation. At least $201 million was paid to victims including broadcasters and some of FIFA’s continental confederations, Bloomberg reported.

The four additional defendants seeking dismissals include Jose Maria Marin, former head of Brazilian soccer, and Juan Angel Napout, former head of CONMEBOL, FIFA’s South American confederation, both of whom served prison time and paid more than $4 million in fines after being convicted of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in 2017. 

The other two, former FIFA officials Eduardo Li and Alfredo Hawit, previously pleaded guilty to racketeering and corruption, admitting to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes tied to the sale of marketing rights to Latin American tournaments including World Cup qualifying events.