Rafael Esquivel
Born
Rafael Esquivel Melo

1946 or 1947 (age 76–77)[1]
NationalityVenezuelan
Occupation(s)former president of the Venezuelan Football Federation
former member of CONMEBOL executive committee

Rafael Esquivel Melo (born 1946/1947) is a Venezuelan former football administrator. He was a member of CONMEBOL executive committee and president of the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF).

Career and arrest

Esquivel was president of the Venezuelan Football Federation from 1988 to 2015.[1]

Esquivel was arrested in May 2015 in Switzerland to face corruption charges in the United States.[2] He was banned by FIFA Ethics Committee for life.[3][4]

In March 2016, Esquivel was extradited to the US and pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court.[5] He was released from jail on a US$7 million bond.[6]

Chilean actor Gonzalo Robles portrayed Esquivel in the 2020 Amazon Prime Video original series El Presidente.

References

  1. 1 2 "FIFA Corruption Arrests: What We Know So Far". SkyNews. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Apuzzo, Matt; Schmidt, Michael S.; Rashbaum, William K.; Borden, Sam. "FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Blatter Isn't Among Them". New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Ruiz, Rebecca R. (8 August 2015). "How the 14 Indicted FIFA Defendants Currently Stand". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "Three Fifa officials banned from football for life over corruption charges". The Independent. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Football: Ex-Conmebol VP Esquivel pleads not guilty in US court over Fifa graft scandal". The Straits Times. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  6. ↑ McDermid, Brendan; Rosenberg, Mica (10 March 2016). "U.S. judge allows release of Venezuelan ex-soccer official on bond". Reuters. Retrieved 28 June 2016.


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