April 17 – Brazilian football has elected a new president – but not until after the World Cup. Jose Maria Marin will be replaced in 2015 by current vice president and sole candidate for the job, Marco Polo Del Nero (pictured).
Both Marin and Del Nero were close to Ricardo Teixeira, the corruption-tarnished former Brazilian football supremo who ran the game there for 23 years before resigning under a cloud of allegations.
Teixeira stepped down citing medical reasons and was never convicted of any wrongdoing in Brazil, but Swiss court documents later linked him to receiving kickbacks worth millions of dollars from World Cup broadcasting deals.
“Ricardo had a way of managing the federation, Marin had his own way and I will have my way, which certainly will be similar to what is happening now,” said Del Nero, a FIFA executive committee member.
The election came amid in-fighting within the Brazilian domestic league, which begins this weekend.
Iconic Rio de Janeiro club Fluminense were relegated last year but allowed to return to the top division after Portuguesa received a points deduction for using a suspended player in the championship’s final round. Portuguesa has gone to court to try to reverse the ruling.
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