Ronaldo to be confirmed today as head of Brazil 2014 World Cup

By Duncan Mackay in Rio de Janeiro

December 1 – Ronaldo, the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup, will be cofirmed as the the new face of the 2014 World Cup here later today, insideworldfootball can reveal.

A press conference has been scheduled for midday at the city’s Sheraton Hotel to officially announce the appointment.

The 35-year-old former Barcelona and Real Madrid striker only retired in June following a spell with Corinthians but has accepted an invitation from Ricardo Teixeira, the controversial President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), to replace him as head of the Organising Committee.

Ronaldo, who has been trying to carve out a new career in marketing, initially denied that he had been approached for the role but held further talks with Teixeira yesterday to finalise the details.

Teixeira, a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee, is currently at the centre of corruption allegations linked to ISL, the Swiss marketing company that collapsed amid allegations that it had paid hundreds of millions of dollars to top officials to secure lucrative contracts.

His position has also come under threat following the appointment in October of Brazil’s new Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, a long-time critic of Teixeira’s.

At the Soccerex conference here on Monday (November 28), Rebelo had said that a change at the top of the organisation was “always a good thing for sport and democracy”.

The decision for Teixeira to step down from the frontline of organising the World Cup reportedly also followed pressure from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who warned that Teixeira’s continued presence at the head was undermining preparations, which have been under the spotlight for their slow pace.

Ronaldo was not the first choice to take over, however.

Henrique Meirelles, the former President of the Central Bank, was the man who was first approached but turned it down because he already has his hands full as head of the Autoridade Pública Olímpica·(PDB), the body set-up to coordinate preparations for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics here.

But even though Ronaldo, a member of the Brazilian squads that won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002, will become the new President of Brazil 2014 few doubt that it will be Teixeira who will continue to pull the strings behind the scenes.

Nevertheless Ronaldo will follow in the footsteps of fellow football stars Michel Platini of France and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, who headed up the organisation of the 1998 and 2006 World Cups respectively.

The appointment was backed by Mario Zagallo, the coach of the legendary Brazil side that won the World Cup in 1970.

“He has plenty of experience as a player,” said Zagallo.

“And I think that he is able to transfer that knowledge to become a top executive.”

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