Former FIFA President confirmed as having received massive kickbacks from FIFA's former marketing partner

By Andrew Warshaw

July 11 – The ISL corruption scandal that has tainted both world football’s governing body, FIFA, and its President, Sepp Blatter, for over a decade took a giant step forwards today when João Havelange, Blatter’s predecessor, and his former son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, were confirmed as having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from FIFA’s former marketing partner.

The pair, who had fought for years to preserve their anonymity, were named after FIFA published a Swiss court dossier that had previously been kept secret.

The report revealed that Teixeira received at least $13 million (£8.4 million/€10.6 million) between 1992 and 1997 from ISL and that Havelange (pictured top) received around $1 million (£645,000/€818,000).

Payments “attributed” to accounts connected to the two Brazilians totalled almost $22 million (£14.2 million/€18 million) from 1992 to 2000.

The documents lift the lid on the contentious ISL file that had long been declared confidential preventing disclosure of exactly who profited from under-the-table payments made by ISL in exchange for FIFA World Cup television rights.

Ever since ISL was declared bankrupt with debts of $300 million (£193.7 million/€245.4 million) in 2001, FIFA has been bombarded with media claims of a cover-up over sums made to a number of prominent officials including, it was rumoured, Havelange – who was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – and Teixeira (pictured above) who until recently ran Brazil’s 2014 World Cup campaign.

Last year the IOC sanctioned both African football chief Issa Hayatou and world athletics boss Lamine Diack for having accepted money from ISL.

But Havelange managed to avoid punishment by resigning his membership after 48 years.

In recent months, Blatter, whose 14-year Presidency has been clouded by the ISL case, has repeatedly insisted he had nothing to hide.

Meanwhile Swiss legal professor Mark Pieth, parachuted in to oversee a total reform of the way FIFA does business, called for the ISL documentation to be published for the sake of transparency.

The Swiss Supreme Court apparently reached its landmark decision on July 3 after constant pressure from five media organisations, with a written judgment giving the green light to publication of the 41-page document.

“FIFA is pleased that the ISL non-prosecution order can now be made public,” FIFA said in a statement, adding that Blatter (pictured below) himself was not in any way culpable as had been suspected in some quarters.

“The decision of the Swiss Federal Court also confirms that only two foreign officials will be named as part of the process and that, as previously communicated by the prosecutor of Zug in June 2010, the FIFA President is not involved in the case,” FIFA said.

Havelange was FIFA President for 24 years before being succeeded by Blatter in 1998.

The 96-year-old Brazilian, who remains FIFA’s Honorary President, has been treated in a Rio de Janeiro hospital this year for a bacterial infection.

In recent weeks, Teixeira has resigned as head of Brazil’s football federation, the 2014 World Cup Organising Committee and FIFA’s Executive Committee.

He cited ill-health but it was clear there were other reasons too.

FIFA released the documentation hours after the Supreme Court announced that the relevant media organisations should, after all, receive details of the ISL case.

Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1735214283labto1735214283ofdlr1735214283owedi1735214283sni@w1735214283ahsra1735214283w.wer1735214283dna1735214283