Former Costa Rican football administrator Eduardo Li has scored a goal against Lloyd’s of London in their dispute over his legal expenses insurance coverage.
US District Judge Raymond Dearie ruled that the British insurer would have to cover all of Li’s defence costs in the FIFA corruption case, the Tico Times News reported.
Li, the former president of the Costa Rican Football Federation and a FIFA executive committee member-elect, is currently facing charges of money laundering and wire fraud in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
In May 2015, Li was arrested along with top FIFA officials over corruption allegations within the sport governing body.
Li had asked Lloyd’s to pay for his legal expenses as part of a contract between FIFA officials and the British insurer.
Lloyd’s said it had no such obligation under the policy, arguing that its contract with Li did not cover trials in the US, where he was extradited in December 2015.
This prompted Li to bring a lawsuit against Lloyd’s in New York in November 2015, but the insurer’s team sought the dismissal of the case.
In his ruling, Dearie said Lloyd’s request to dismiss the lawsuit was “lacking in merit,” according to the Tico Times News report.
The report said Dearie sided with Li on the grounds of irreparable harm, saying he faces “actual and imminent injury” because Lloyd’s has refused to pay his defence costs.
Li is currently under house arrest after being freed from a New York detention centre on a US$5 million bail. He would have to reimburse Lloyd’s if found guilty to the charges.
