ASUNCION: CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation, has bought out the commercial ights to the Copa America Centenario tournament from the compromised Argentinian agency Datisa.

The move is another step to what CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout still hopes will be a staging next year in the United States despite uncertainty some of his fellow officials because of the ongoing FIFAGate investigation.

A statement from CONMEBOL said: “CONMEBOL and Datisa have agreed to the recision of all the commercial rights held by Datisa for the sale of sponsorship and rebroadcasts.

“CONMEBOL will reclaim control of those commercial rights while, together with CONCACAF and the United States Soccer Federation, identifying new partners to sell the tournament’s commercial rights through a new and transparent process.”

The FIFAGate investigation being run by the US Department of Justice led to the arrests of Datisa executives Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis.

Burzaco is currently on bail in the US while Hugo and Mariano Jinkis are on bail in Argentina pending further negotiations with the US authorities.

The Copa America is the world’s oldest surviving national team tournament after being held initially in 1916.

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