By Paul Nicholson
January 7 – The musical chairs at the top of South America’s leading football federations continued yesterday with an unusual twist. Recently the news has only been of presidents being arrested or removed from office, but this time the game changed with the return of Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) head Marco Polo Del Nero who resumed his position from Marcus Antonio Vicente.
Del Nero returned to work having completed a 45-day leave of absence taken to defend himself against various charges of corruption both from within Brazil, and via the latest US indictments issued December 3. He is also under scrutiny by FIFA’s own Ethics investigators.
When Del Nero stepped down from his CBF role and Vicente took over, few grasped the fact that he would actually return. Brazilian football legend turned senator Romario, who with a commissional inquiry has been at the forefront in the fight against corruption in Brazil, at the time welcomed the news saying: “We now have a great victory.
“Another step in freeing our beloved sport football of corruption. There is still a lot left to do, but Del Nero was a symbol reminiscent of the era of Ricardo Teixeira. They have fallen like dominos: Teixeira, Marin and Del Nero. They were all involved in the same crime, according to the investigations of the FBI: they conspired in an intentional manner to create a system of fraud at the CBF.”
Those words now look a bit premature despite the US Department of Justice secondary indictment of December 3 that states: “At various times, Marco Polo Del Nero, José Maria Marin, José Luis Meiszner and Ricardo Teixeira also solicited and received bribe and kickback payments from Alejandro Burzaco and Co-Conspirator #12 in exchange for their support of T&T as holder of the rights to the Copa Libertadores, among other tournaments.”
Later in the US indictment Del Nero’s links to Traffic Sports owner Jose Hawilla, the main whistleblower for the FBI in the corruption scandal, and former CBF president Ricardo Texiera are made with the statement: “Co-Conspirator #7 advised Hawilla of the bribe payments he had agreed to make to the defendant Teixeira. Co-Conspirator #7 further advised Hawilla that the bribe payment he had originally negotiated with Teixeira had increased when other CBF officials, the defendants José Maria Marin [CBF president from 2012] and Marco Polo Del Nero [elected in 2014 to take Marin’s CBF post in 2015] requested bribe payments as well. Hawilla agreed to pay half the cost of the bribe payments, which totalled 2 million Brazilian reais per year [c $1m in August 2012], to be distributed among Teixeira, Marin and Del Nero.”
Del Nero has denied these accusations and during his leave of absence gave evidence to a Brazilian congressional inquiry. Vicente said in a video posted on the CBF website: “I have completed my mission as interim head of the CBF…It was agreed with Marco Polo Del Nero that I would stay until January 5.”
A CBF statement said: “With Vicente standing down, the president of the CBF Marco Polo Del Nero will resume his activities.”
Del Nero fled Zurich after the first set of US indictments saw the arrest of seven football executives in Switzerland in May prior to the FIFA Congress. Del Nero was a member of FIFA’s executive committee but after failing to attend any FIFA meetings for six months eventually resigned his position.
While able to more freely in Brazil, it is unlikely he will leave the country as the US has an outstanding warrant for his arrest as they continue their football corruption investigations and prosecutions in the Americas.
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