‘FIFA gate’ leads to class action lawsuit against Televisa
Details
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 23 March 2018

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Grupo Televisa’s shareholders following alleged misleading statements about the FIFA bribes scandal.

According to the US firm of lawyers, the investors who acquired Televisa’s American Depositary Receipt (ADR) between 11 April 2013 and 25 January 2018, have been notified.

Following the complaint, Alejandro Burzaco, a former CEO of the sports-marketing company Torneos y Competencias SA, testified that Televisa had paid bribes to FIFA executives in order to secure broadcasting rights for soccer tournaments. Following this news, Televisa’s American depositary receipt price fell by 2.4%.

Then, at the beginning of 2018, Televisa announced that it had detected that certain material weaknesses in the company’s internal control over financial reporting existed as of 31 December 2016.

As a result, the complaint alleges that false and misleading statements had been made, failing to disclose that Televisa’s executives engaged in unlawful bribery schemes, the Mexican broadcaster lacked effective internal controls over financial reporting.

“As a result of the foregoing, Televisa’s ADRs traded at artificially inflated prices during the class period, and class members suffered significant losses and damages,” concluded the note published by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check.

So far, Televisa has not reacted publicly to the lawsuit, but the price of its shares dropped by nearly 10% during the week.