NEW YORK • United States prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas in a far-reaching investigation into international sports corruption. They are seeking information about some of the biggest sports organisations in the world - including Fifa, the International Olympic Committee and the US Olympic Committee - as well as the people who have successfully lobbied to host top global competitions.

The Justice Department is exploring possible racketeering, money laundering and honest services fraud charges related to two track and field world championship events and the business executives who have consulted on bids for various other elite competitions, according to one of the subpoenas, which was obtained by The New York Times.

The subpoenas, delivered last month, have solicited documents, testimony and financial records dating to 2013. Since that time, the United States has won bids to host two major sports events - the 2021 track and field world championships, in Eugene, Oregon, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The subpoena did not explicitly refer to the Los Angeles Olympic bid. Of particular interest to the Justice Department, according to the subpoena, is the world governing body for track and field, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

IAAF awarded the 2019 world championships to Doha, Qatar, and the 2021 event to Eugene.

The investigation is being conducted by the US attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York. The Brooklyn office includes the same prosecutors who have spent years investigating Fifa, the global governing body for football, resulting in a range of bribery and corruption charges that produced upheaval in the organisation. The office has also spent years investigating systematic doping in Russia.

The individuals summoned to provide information, including personal and corporate bank records, were asked to appear in federal court in Brooklyn as soon as this week.

Among the specific sports marketing companies that prosecutors are scrutinising, according to the subpoena, is Helios Partners, a firm that has lobbied global sports officials to award high-profile events to particular cities and countries. Helios helped Russia secure the 2014 Winter Olympics and this year's World Cup, before its acquisition in 2012 by the Amaury Group, a French media company.

NYTIMES