Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, the Argentine father and son charged in the global football corruption scandal known as Fifagate, have reached an agreement with the United States Department of Justice to end bribery charges filed against them more than a decade ago. The information comes from a report published Tuesday (25) by Folha de S.Paulo, based on reporting by The New York Times.

The two men are due to appear on Thursday (27) before a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to tell a judge that they signed a deferred prosecution agreement negotiated over recent months, according to prosecutors. The terms were not disclosed on Tuesday, but such agreements typically allow criminal charges to be dropped if the defendants meet certain conditions. According to a letter filed in court by Brooklyn federal prosecutors, father and son are expected to be released on bail on Thursday.

What the defendants admitted

As part of the deal, Hugo and Mariano Jinkis agreed to admit that they paid "tens of millions of dollars in commercial bribes" to officials of South American football organizations in exchange for television broadcasting and sponsorship rights to lucrative tournaments, prosecutors wrote. The payments began in the 1990s and continued until 2015, when the two were indicted in the Department of Justice's investigation into corruption at Fifa, football's world governing body.

Unlike many other defendants in the case, the Jinkises managed to avoid extradition and remained fugitives in Argentina. In May, The New York Times reported that the two had traveled to New York for secret negotiations with federal prosecutors over a plea arrangement. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

So far, the federal government has won more than two dozen convictions in the years-long investigation. Several defendants served prison time, and many others agreed to cooperate and pay steep fines, spending years working with prosecutors and testifying at trials. The Jinkises, by contrast, are unlikely to serve any sentence under the agreement, the report notes. In practice, the deal closes one of the last open criminal fronts of the case that exposed a bribery scheme at the top of world football, just as the United States prepares to host the World Cup.