By Ricardo Setyon
August 12 – In Brazil former footballers becoming politicians is not unusual – Bebeto, Vampeta, Tulio, Roberto Dinamite, and even Zico and Pelé had their time as members of governments – but none have reached the heights of Romário, one of the best goalscorers the country has ever produced.
Baixinho (Shorty) with 146,000 votes was one of the most voted-for state representatives at the National Parliament of Brazil, representing his birthplace, the State of Rio de Janeiro, back in 2010.
His popularity increased with the disastrous display of the Brazilian national team at the 2010 World Cup, and the staggering corruption at Brazil’s national federation, the CBF. Romario was the voice of the streets, calling for a deep cleansing of the sport in the country. He rapidly became seen as a voice that could bring some decency into football.
His political career was boosted further when he was elected to the Brazilian Senate with 4.6 million votes, more than 63% of the Rio de Janeiro state votes.
With power and a platform Romario was quick to come forward attacking his own government for corruption and demanding an investigation of FIFA. Even before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil he was critical of the stadium construction plan, that left the country with “white elephants”. He even criticized, from the very beginning, the way Brazilian players behaved while wearing the yellow national jersey.
After the 7-1 loss to Germany, Romario said: “Brazil lost inside the pitch, in a shameful display of football, but Brazil lost disgracefully, above all, outside of the stadia and the pitches, with that World Cup…”
Romario is now leading the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission of the Federal Government of Brazil, to evaluate and take measures to erase corruption and mismanagement in local football.
But in the middle of all this Romario, was recently at the center of a very unusual scandal. Leading Brazilian weekly magazine in Brazil, VEJA, printed a Swiss bank document indicating that Romario holds an account with SFr 2,164,367.
As a Brazilian national, Romario cannot hold a foreign bank account without paying taxes. The magazine accused the ex-striker, of keeping, secretly, the money at BSI (Banca Svizzerra Italiana), in the city of Geneva.
When Romario insisted that he knew nothing about the money, the magazine printed an article accusing Romario of not only holding that “illegal “money, but also being able to pay those taxes, as “he drives a red Ferrari, when in Rio, and has a €2,5 million apartment in town, beyond his salary as a politician and a few other sources.”
Romario’s response was to fly to Geneva, with one of his ex-wives, who is fluent in French.
After visiting the bank, he published on Instagram, a picture of himself in front of the famous lake, smiling, saying: “Friends! I am disappointed… Just found out that I do not own 2 million euros… Now those who accused me, should start counting coins, because the bill will get to them the Magazine lied. The document presented is a fake one. We will make justice and sue Veja in court.”.
Romario received an official letter from the BSI Bank, saying that the document printed by the magazine is a fake, and that “Romario does not hold any account or money in the institution”.
Romario visited two top lawyers in Geneva, and filed a suit against the magazine.
VEJA responded with a public apology, saying that the document with Romario’s name on it, was given to them by “someone closely linked to the Federal Police of Brazil, and therefore, there were no reasons to suspect of the authenticity of it…”
Romario is now suing the magazine for exactly 10 times more than what VEJA suggested he had in the Swiss account – more than €20 million – for moral damages and use of fake documents in the media “.
Safetly back in Brazil, Romario, at the unveiling of his new position as Head of the Inquiry Committee for Corruption in Football, said: “Lies about me have been printed. Bad character, bad journalism, bad manipulation of the truth, can ruin someone’s life.
“In such a moment, when we try to eradicate al the bad roots of Brazilian football, a nationwide magazine, thinks they do not need to verify documents that can be forged. I will use all my power against the corruption that infests Brazilian football, but also against any media or persons that threatens that process.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734870105labto1734870105ofdlr1734870105owedi1734870105sni@n1734870105oytes1734870105.odra1734870105cir1734870105