Soccer Crime
Analysis /
Copa America Beefs Up Security in Brazil To Prevent Soccer Gang Violence
With the Copa America soccer tournament nearing kickoff, authorities in Brazil have employed a number of tactics to ensure infamous fan-run gangs don’t spoil it....
Brief /
Clear Penalty as Colombian Soccer Star Netted for Drug Trafficking
Jhon Viáfara, a roving midfielder for Colombia’s national soccer team, was arrested on suspicion of seeking to export cocaine to the United States. This is but...
Brief /
Soccer Corruption Hits Peru With Leading Arrest
The arrest of businessman and former president of the Peruvian Soccer Federation, Edwin Oviedo, opens a new chapter in the profitable relationship between soccer...
Analysis /
Why Can’t Argentina Control Its ‘Barras Bravas’?
The troubled road that led to one of Latin America's most anticipated soccer finals being moved to Europe exposed, once again, the reach and influence of...
Brief /
Argentina Arrests Members of International Drug-Trafficking Soccer Hooligan Network
The arrest of several members of an international drug trafficking organization made up of soccer hooligans from Argentina and Colombia adds to the mounting...
Brief /
Jail Time for LatAm Officials Won’t Kick FIFA Corruption Problem
Authorities in the United States have sentenced two high-level soccer officials to jail time in relation to a widespread corruption scandal involving the world’s...
Analysis /
How the US Took On the Mafia Running International Soccer
The 2018 World Cup is about to end, but the case that unveiled a massive criminal conspiracy involving the international soccer organization FIFA is still...
Brief /
How Narcos Use World Cup Mania to Smuggle Cocaine
The use of World Cup merchandise to smuggle cocaine around the world points to a longstanding relationship between drug trafficking and soccer, one of the world’s...
Analysis /
Weekly InSight: How Organized Crime Has Tarnished the World Cup
In our June 14 Facebook Live session, Senior Investigator Héctor Silva Ávalos and Senior Editor Mike LaSusa discussed the opening of the 2018 World Cup and the...
Analysis /
Soccer: The Tainted King of Sports Takes the World Stage
The Russia 2018 World Cup has begun. But behind the much awaited games are the stains of corruption and ties to organized crime tarnishing the most popular, and...
Analysis /
Argentina Strike Sheds Light on Union’s ‘Mafia Style’ Operations
An upcoming strike of the largest union conglomerate in Argentina is shedding light on labor groups’ criminal relationships and “mafia style” operations, as a...
Brief /
Argentina Soccer Crime Case Shows Evolution of Hooligan Groups
A new round of arrests and charges in an unfolding racketeering case in Argentina involving a criminalized soccer fan club, or "barra brava,"...