BUENOS AIRES – A former Argentine government official threw himself in front of a train and killed himself after being accused of taking bribes in testimony during a U.S. trial looking into corruption in world football.
Jorge Delhon, a lawyer who worked in the administration of former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez, killed himself on Tuesday by jumping in front of a train in Buenos Aires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMkIfyYRFoM
A ministry official in Buenos Aires province confirmed the death, but could not be identified because of not being authorised to speak on the subject.
“I love you all,” Delhon wrote in a suicide note to his family, the ministry official told The Associated Press. “I can’t believe (what’s happening).”
The suicide came just hours after sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco told a judge in New York he had paid millions in bribes to Delhon and Pablo Paladino in exchange for TV production rights to soccer matches.
Paladino worked for a government-run TV show that broadcasts matches, Futbol para Todos (Football for All).
Delhon worked under Fernandez’s chief of staff, and dealt with Futbol para Todos.
The Fernandez government, which ended in 2015, created the free-to-air soccer program on Argentine public television. While giving more free access to Argentine soccer fans, Fernandez was sharply criticized for using the program to promote her government.
Earlier this year an Argentine court opened criminal proceedings against two of Fernandez’s former chiefs of staff — Anibal Fernandez (no relation) and Jorge Capitanich — for allegedly taking public funds earmarked for Football para Todos.
