The Fiesta Bowl is in the news for all the wrong reasons
PLAYOFF PAC FILES CAMPAIGN FINANCE
COMPLAINT AGAINST THE BCS’S FIESTA BOWL
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Contact: Press@PlayoffPAC.com
WASHINGTON, DC-Playoff PAC, a federal political committee dedicated to discarding the Bowl Championship Series, has filed a campaign finance complaint with the Arizona Secretary of State against the BCS’s Fiesta Bowl. For a copy of the complaint, click here.
The complaint concerns serious violations of Arizona state law first reported by The Arizona Republic earlier this month. According to The Republic, five current and former Fiesta Bowl employees claim the Bowl illegally reimbursed them for making political contributions. Today’s complaint will clear the way for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to open a formal inquiry into these disturbing accusations.
Matthew Martinez, a Playoff PAC co-founder and the complaint’s filer, said: “The Arizona Republic finally offered a glimpse into the BCS’s opaque family of organizations. What they saw wasn’t pretty-a tax-exempt organization blowing $4 million on boondoggles and reimbursing employees’ political contributions illegally. The Fiesta Bowl attempted to kill this controversy by employing a consultant to perform a brief internal review. This paid consultant plainly lacks the credibility necessary to rebut claims of impropriety made by five separate Fiesta Bowl employees. The Fiesta Bowl must immediately open its books so that the Secretary of State and the public can determine whether a taxpayer-subsidized entity behaved illegally.”
