Nicolás Leoz Almirón (10 September 1928 – 28 August 2019) was President of

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

(''South American Football Confederation'') from 1986 to 2013. Leoz assumed the presidency in 1986 (succeeding Teófilo Salinas Fuller) and in February 2006, he was reelected as President for a sixth term. He was

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

an and received Colombian citizenship in 2008. On 23 April 2013, Leoz resigned from both the FIFA Executive Committee and the CONMEBOL presidency, citing health issues. Before his position as President of CONMEBOL, Leoz was President of the Justice Department of the Paraguayan Basketball Confederation (1957–1959), President of Paraguayan soccer

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

(1969–1970 and 1974–1977), President of the

Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol The Paraguayan Football Association ( ; APF) (Guarani language, Guarani: ''Paraguái Mangapy Atyguasu''), is the omnibus governing body of football (soccer), football in Paraguay. It organizes the Paraguayan football league system, Paraguayan fo ...

(1971–1973 and 1979–1985) and Vice President of CONMEBOL (1972–1974 and 1980–1986). In November 2010 he was alleged by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

to have taken bribes in the 1990s regarding the awarding of

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

television rights. In May 2015, Leoz was banned by the

FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIFA ...

for accepting

bribes Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

Youth and early career

Leoz was born in Asunción-Pirizal,

. His childhood was spent in Pirizal, in the industrial complex of Carlos Casado, near the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (''Ysyry Paraguái'' in Guarani language, Guarani, ''Rio Paraguai'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Río Paraguay'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bol ...

, Puerto Casado today is known as Puerto La Victoria. From 1940 to 1950, Leoz was a sports journalist in radio and newspapers. In 1957, he studied law at the School of Law and Social Sciences of the UNA ( National University of Asunción) and as a student took office in

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

as a scribe in interrogations; he graduated on 24 December 1957, at 29 years age. From 1950 to 1962, he was a history teacher at the

Colegio Nacional de la Capital Colegio Nacional de la Capital "Gral. Bernardino Caballero" (or simply CNC) is a public high school in Asuncion, Paraguay. The school is one of the most prestigious in Paraguay. Many personalities have studied there. History The CNC was establi ...

, Nacional de Niñas and Comercio. He was also a director for an aluminum enterprise and in agricultural livestock. From 1957 to 1977, he was president of the Tribunal de Justicia de la Confederación Paraguaya de Básquetbol. *Doctor "Honoris causa" from Universidade of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. *Member of Honor of the Universidad Nacional of San Agustín of

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

, Peru.

Timeline of football career

Corruption cases

In November 2010,

Andrew Jennings Andrew Jennings (3 September 1943 – 8 January 2022) was a British investigative reporter. He was best known for his work investigating and writing about corruption in the IOC and FIFA. Early life Jennings was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, ...

, the presenter of FIFA's Dirty Secrets, an edition of

's flagship current affairs programme ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' alleged that Leoz had taken bribes in the 1990s regarding the awarding of contracts for the sale of television rights to the football

. ''Panorama'' claimed to have obtained a confidential document from a company called ISL which showed that Leoz was paid $730,000 by the company. ISL won the contract to distribute the television rights. Leoz has not responded to the allegations. In May 2011, Lord Triesman named Leoz while giving evidence at a Parliamentary inquiry into football governance in London. Nicolas Leoz has been accused of requesting an honorary knighthood in reward for supporting a World Cup bid for England. It was later revealed in email exchanges involving his aide that Leoz would consider visiting England if the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, the oldest

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition in the world, were to be named after him. On 23 April 2013, Leoz announced his resignation of CONMEBOL presidency to take place on 30 April 2013. On 3 June 2015, Leoz was named on an INTERPOL Red Notice. In 2018, his extradition was approved by a Paraguayan court. Leoz appealed the decision. At the time of his death the case was pending before the

Supreme Court of Paraguay The Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay () is the highest court of Paraguay. The Senate and the President of Paraguay select its nine ministers (judges) on the basis of recommendations from a constitutionally created (Council of Magistrates). ...

Family

Leoz was the son of Gregory Leoz Latorre (born in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) and Petrona Almirón Bogarín (born in

Luque Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War ...

). His brothers were Guillermo, Pomposa, Sara, Eusebio, Cesar, Modesto and Maria Teresa. He also had two brothers, Isidoro and Cesareo from his father when he married Eudosia Carmen Zorrilla. His paternal grandparents were Cesareo Leoz Guinda and Miguela Latorre. His paternal great-grandparents were Manuel Leoz Ramon and Manuela Guinda Baztam.

Notes

* News media as a scandal involving within the FIFA together with Julio Grondona who is vice president of FIFA, CSF vice-president and president of the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. (Andrew Jennings).

References

Bibliography

* Leoz, Nicholas, Pido la palabra. MZ Editions S.R.L., Ladino 3729. Buenos Aires-Argentina, 2001

External links

FIFA.COM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leoz, Nicolas 1928 births 2019 deaths People from Asunción Naturalized citizens of Colombia Presidents of CONMEBOL Paraguayan emigrants to Colombia Paraguayan people of Basque descent Paraguayan people of Spanish descent FIFA officials People named in the Panama Papers Paraguayan schoolteachers 20th-century Paraguayan educators