Millions Recovered in FIFA Corruption Scandal May Now Be Missing Again Before World Cup

The soccer federation most affected by the global corruption scandal that upended the sport more than a decade ago is under scrutiny again, just weeks before the World Cup.

Alejandro Dominguez, the leader of Conmebol, the South American soccer organization at the center of the sprawling FIFA scandal in 2015, is facing an ethics complaint that he received millions of dollars from the funds that had been recovered from that case. The complaint was made by a whistle-blower who claims to have direct knowledge of the payments.

Senior FIFA officials have been aware of the complaint against Mr. Dominguez to its ethics committee for more than a year, according to three people with direct knowledge of the complaint who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Mr. Dominguez, one of the biggest power brokers in the sport, also serves as one of the eight vice presidents of FIFA. The complaint accuses him, along with another senior Conmebol official, of receiving more than $5 million from the money recovered by the soccer federation after it secured the return of millions of dollars lost to corruption schemes.

Conmebol, one of soccer’s six continental governing bodies, declined to comment, saying only that it was unaware of an ethics complaint. FIFA did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Mr. Dominguez did not reply to a request for comment.

The revelation of the complaint comes at a particularly sensitive time not only for Mr. Dominguez but also for FIFA, with the World Cup scheduled to begin next month in Mexico, Canada and the United States.