By Samindra Kunti
February 16 – The Brazilian FA CBF and sponsor Michelin have parted ways as the CBF’s crisis continues well into 2016.
Carnaval has barely come to an end across Brazil and dark storm clouds are gathering again at the CBF. The organisation was forced to acknowledge the loss of another sponsor: this time Michelin, one of the world’s largest tyre manufacturers, jumped ship.
Michelin had teamed up with the CBF in 2014 when Brazil hosted a successful World Cup. The sponsorship agreement was projected to run for five years, but has now been ended prematurely. Continental might succeed Michelin as a new sponsor, according to Brazilian media reports.
In the last three months the CBF have lost four major sponsors with Gillette, Sadia and Seguros Unimed also ending their relationship with Brazil’s football governing body. All of these sponsors failed to publicly state that their decisions had been spurred by the ongoing allegations of corruptions aimed at the CBF, but their abrupt manner of rupturing contracts and distancing themselves strongly hints at discontent with the CBF’s reputation.
The organisation’s image hit rock-bottom after the FBI indicted Marco Polo Del Nero in December. The investigations of Swiss and American authorities had previously also entrapped Jose Maria Marin and Ricardo Teixeira, Del Nero’s predecessors. All three were key figures in the organization of the 2014 World Cup.
In 2016 the CBF hasn’t fared much better: they wriggled before acknowledging the Primeira Liga, a breakaway pre-season tournament founded by a group of leading Brazilian clubs. They also face an ongoing enquiry into their in-house business led by senator Romario. At the weekend, Corinthians fans protested against the CBF, calling the body ‘the shame of football’.
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