KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Juan Angel Napout, the former FIFA vice-president jailed in the United States in the FIFAGate scandal, has failed in yet another bid for early release despite testing positive for coronavirus in a Florida prison .

Napout, also head of South American confederation CONMEBOL when he was arrested in Switzerland in 2015, had twice previously been refused early release on the grounds of a risk to health in applications before New York Judge Pamela Chen.

Florida is one of the states worst-hit by the pandemic and the Federal Bureau of Prisons has reported 93 prisoners 10 officers as having tested positive at the Miami jail which has a 1,000 capacity.

The 62-year-old Paraguayan was sentenced in 2017 to nine years in prison on racketeering and wire fraud charges in connection with awarding television and marketing rights of major events in exchange for kickbacks.

It was the longest sentence of any of the accused in the scandal that rocked world football’s governing body.

Napout had been tried together with Jose Maria Marin, 88-year-old former president of the Brazilian confederation. Marin had been serving a four-year prison sentence for accepting millions of dollars in bribes until he was released from jail on humanitarian grounds in March.

The US government has accused some 45 people and several sports companies of wrongdoing. Almost all pleaded guilty and around 20 are still awaiting sentencing.

Among them is Alejandro Burzaco, the Argentinian media rights executive who gave evidence against Napout and Marin as part of a plea bargain. He has applied to have his own sentencing postponed from August 20.

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