By Mark Baber
July 15 – Brazilian footballing legend turned politician Romario (pictured), who came to power on a platform of defending the rights of people with disabilities, has been appointed president of the Congressional Committee investigating corruption in the wake of the arrest of former Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Jose Maria Marin.
Romario entered politics as a Socialist MP after his daughter was born with Downs Syndrome, saying: “In politics I’m going to have less difficulty than I’ve had so far to do something for children and young people in the community and also for children with special needs. People, especially in the communities, respect me and see in me someone who came from where they are and that they can get to where I did.”
Romario, born and raised Rio’s Jacarezinho shanty town, has never hidden his contempt for Marin who was a compliant deputy under the military dictatorship for 20 years and who denounced journalist Vladimir Herzog before he was picked up by the military and tortured to death. Romario even described Marin as worse than former CBF president Ricardo Teixeira whom he helped topple and whom he had called a “cancer” on Brazilian football.
Romario called for the investigation in the wake of the FIFA corruption scandal in May. Promising that the probe will look into all the confederation’s accounts, Romario promised to investigate the roles of confederation president Marco Polo Del Nero as well as those of Teixeira and Marin.
Having successfully transformed himself from the bête noire of Brazilian football to being perceived as one of Brazil’s hardest working and most respected politicians, Romario says he is now ”100 percent prepared to promote a conclusive change” in Brazilian football.
Not all of Romario’s public pronouncements have been based on reliable evidence and he is noted as being opportunistic and quick to shoot from the hip. He was very vocal during the ticket scandal at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 which led to the wrongful arrest and prolonged imprisonment of Match executive Ray Whelan until he was released on bail and all charges were subsequently dropped due to lack of evidence.
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