Fifa defendant weeps in court after US jury finds him not guilty of bribery

A former South American soccer official wept as he was acquitted in New York on Tuesday of a corruption charge stemming from the Fifa bribery scandal – one week after two others were convicted.

Jurors found Manuel Burga, the 60-year-old former president of Peru’s soccer federation, not guilty of a single racketeering conspiracy charge.

The Peruvian wept when the acquittal was announced.

After the verdict, he came out of the courtroom, his eyes wet, and said: “God Bless America. That’s all I can say.”

Burga said he would go home and resume a career as a lawyer that had been largely left behind for the last 15 years during his career as a soccer executive.

“My history in soccer is finished,” he said. “I’ll go back to the law.”