ASUNCION, June 29 (Reuters) - Former South American soccer boss Juan Angel Napout, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2018 for his role in the FIFA corruption scandal, could be released next week, one of his lawyers said on Thursday. Napout, the former head of South American soccer's governing body CONMEBOL, was found guilty by a jury in the U.S. of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, crimes stemming from the corruption scandal that engulfed global soccer body FIFA in 2015. Napout's lawyer Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Macchi told a radio station in Paraguay that Judge Pamela Chen had reduced Napout's sentence and he would be released on compassionate grounds on July 5. Napout suffers from cataracts in both eyes and his family alleges that he has not received adequate medical attention from prison authorities in Miami. "He is released but there is some paperwork for him to be able to take a flight and return to Paraguay," said Gonzalez.

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Persons: Juan Angel Napout, Napout, Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Macchi, Pamela Chen, Gonzalez, Daniela Desantis, Janina Nuno Rios, Toby Davis Organizations: South, FIFA, CONMEBOL, Thomson Locations: ASUNCION, South American, U.S, Paraguay, Miami, Zurich