Referees will have help in Russia

Millions in graft

The head of CONMEBOL said the body lost more than $140 million to graft under former managers indicted in a US corruption investigation.

Between 2010 and 2014 "CONMEBOL was defrauded of more than $140 million," president Alejandro Dominguez said after unveiling the findings of an external audit at the confederation's congress.

South American soccer officials have been heavily implicated in the US-led investigation into corruption in world soccer which led to the downfall of FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2015.

Paraguay's Dominguez was appointed to root out graft in CONMEBOL after investigations indicated officials had pocketed millions of dollars in bribes for awarding sponsorship and marketing contracts.

Three former presidents of CONMEBOL - Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay and two Paraguayans, Nicolas Leoz and Juan Angel Napout - have been indicted in the US investigation, accused of accepting bribes.

Figueredo and Leoz are under house arrest pending investigations.

They are among some 40 international officials detained in the scandal.

The audit released on Wednesday details "suspect operations recorded in the 2010 to 2014 period under the managements of Nicolas Leoz and Eugenio Figueredo".

The transactions "represent institutional diversion of funds for personal gain," the report says.

Agence France-Presse