A former boss of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, has become the latest casualty of the FIFA corruption scandal, charged with money laundering and tax evasion.
Once the most powerful man in Brazilian sport, Teixeira joins his CBF successor, Jose Maria Marin in the list of alledged soccer crooks, as the latter was one of the first to be arrested by Swiss police along with six other FIFA executives last Wednesday.
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The men are accused of accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, as well as vote-purchasing and other financial violations.
According to a federal police source, an investigation into Teixeira’s finances revealed that he had laundered money and contravened currency laws.
Meanwhile, Brazilian soccer hero Pelé has expressed support for recently reelected FIFA chief Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, in spite of his presiding over the organization for decades of corruption.
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“I was in favor (of the reelection of Blatter), it needed an expert,” the 74-year-old told journalists in Cuba.
Blatter was reelected for his fifth term as the body’s president Friday, since taking over in 1998, just two days after the explosive scandal broke.
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