Teixeira faces new corruption probe on eve of World Cup vote

Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is facing a new investigation into his allegedly corrupt dealings with FIFA's defunct marketing partner ISL according to a report in Wednesday's Folha de São Paulo newspaper.


Teixeira stands accused of receiving kickbacks from ISL

A committee of the Brazilian Congress has alleged that Teixeira's company RLJ received 2.9 million Reais (around $2m US) in bribes from ISL via the Liechtenstein based company SANUD between 1992 and 1997. The Congress committee filed a complaint to the Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor's office in 2008 but Teixeira's lawyers sought habeas corpus which effectively delayed proceedings. Folha de São Paulo reports that  a decision will be made next Tuesday on whether an investigation will proceed.

This follows on from a BBC Panorama documentary broadcasted on Monday that named Teixeira as one of three FIFA executive committee members accused of receiving illegal payments from ISL. The three deny any wrongdoing and claim that they have been exonerated by previous investigations.

The embarassing news for Teixeira comes on the eve of the votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. Teixeira has one of the 24 votes that will decide who will follow Brazil as the hosts of the next two World Cup finals. The man who runs Brazilian football has not publicly revealed his voting intentions but he is believed to favour the joint Spain/Portugal bid for 2018. The Brazilian national team has played two friendlies in Qatar in the past year which may tend to suggest that Teixeira will support the gulf state's claim for 2022.

Originally a lawyer, Teixeira has been in charge of Brazilian football since 1989. He had never worked in football before becoming CBF president but conveniently he was the son in law of then FIFA president João Havelange. He was due to stand down in 2011 but his term was recently extended so that he could oversee Brazil's organisation of the 2014 World Cup, the first to be held in South America since 1978. The coutry's preparations have been dogged by delays and arguments over funding. Earlier this year FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke claimed, 'It is incredible how behind Brazil is...Many deadlines have gone by and nothing has happened. Brazil is not on the right track.' An investigation into his past business dealings is probably the last thing that Teixeira needs right now.