The FBI searches Imagina's headquarters in Miami

The records have been carried out at the offices of Media World, a division of Imagina US, dedicated to the development, operation and distribution of television channels and international exploitation of sports rights.

This Thursday, several FBI agents entered the Miami headquarters of Media World, a subsidiary of the Imagina group. Officers have made copies of some of the computer equipment and removed numerous boxed documents from the building.

Media World is the division dedicated to the development, operation and distribution of television channels, international exploitation of sports rights and technical operation and transmission services in the audiovisual field. Established in Miami since 1998, it works in Latin America and the United States, with operations in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Colombia, and high definition production studios in Miami and Los Angeles.

In a statement made public this afternoon regarding the information published regarding the search carried out by the FBI at the Media World facilities in Miami, a company owned by the American subsidiary of Imagina, the Spanish group emphasizes that "the company Media World is dedicated to the management of sports rights and its management corresponds to the minority partner. In the event that sufficient evidence is presented, and while respecting the presumption of innocence, the group will suddenly dismiss any person who may have incurred in any type of irregular activity.”

"The Imagina group does not allow or tolerate irregular, illegal activities or activities that violate its ethical code. Any person or activity that may incur or have incurred irregular behavior will be immediately disassociated from the group," they add.

The capital of the Imagina group is 51.3 percent owned by Mediapro and Globomedia, 17.1 percent by the WPP group, 17.1 percent by Torreal and 14.5 percent by Televisa.

Football in the spotlight

The FBI search in Media World could be related to the open operation in several countries against corruption in the world of football. This morning the Swiss authorities have once again carried out several arrests in Zurich of leaders of the highest governing body of world football in an operation similar to the one that took place last May, which resulted in seven senior representatives of the organization arrested at the request of the US Justice on corruption charges.

The two detained in Switzerland are the Honduran Alfredo Hawit, president of the Central American Football Confederation (Concacaf) and vice president of FIFA, and the Paraguayan Juan Ángel Napout, also vice president of FIFA and president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol).

Suspension of Roger Huguet

Imagina has announced that it has initiated the necessary steps to appoint a new management team for Media World Sports. Effective immediately, Irantzu Díez Gamboa has been named general director of Imagina US, joining her new position next Monday. Until today, Irantzu Díez Gamboa has been general director of the Globomedia group in Spain.

The announcement of the new addition comes after the suspension of Roger Huguet, until now CEO of Media World Sports, and Fabio Tordin, an executive of the company, following the announcement yesterday by the Department of Justice of their guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in relation to the investigation being carried out by the US Department of Justice into FIFA.

Imagina has also shown its commitment to "cooperate fully with the North American judicial authorities. The Group will do everything in its power to clarify the circumstances in which these events occurred and clarify the responsibilities that are necessary for the actions of each of the accused."