By Samindra Kunti
April 4 – The Brazilian FA, the CBF, will face more scrutiny by a newly established investigatory commission (CPI). Meanwhile, on the field, Brazil’s qualification campaign for the Russia 2018 World Cup ran into serious problems after draws with both Uruguay and Paraguay.
Brazil’s national team is the country’s most high profile export product, but the Seleção are struggling in the marathon format of continental qualifiers that paves the way to Russia in 2018.
In Recife, Brazil played a match of two halves against Uruguay: Douglas Costa and Renato Augusto put Brazil into a double lead inside the first 26 minutes in a high-paced game, but Edison Cavani pulled one back and the Brazilians collapsed after the interval allowing Luiz Suarez to equalize.
In Asuncion, Ricardo Oliveira and Daniel Alves salvaged a draw after Brazil had been trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes left on the clock against hosts Paraguay. As a consequence, Brazil have dropped to sixth in the qualification table. In the ten-team South American confederation, the first four qualify directly for the World Cup with the fifth placed team earning a play-off.
The poor results leave Brazil coach Carlos Dunga’s job in the balance. Pressure has been mounting on the former captain following criticism that he too often fields a Brazilian team without flair.
The CBF, suffering from a long-standing institutional crisis, is also in a tricky spot again. The Brazilian Chamber of Deputees has set up an investigatory commission, which will be looking into the allegations raised against Brazilian top officials at both the CBF and FIFA.
Among others, the investigation will look into the allegations against former CBF president José Maria Marin, who was one of the seven arrested during the May 2015 raid at the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zürich, initiated by the U.S. authorities. Marin is currently under house arrest in the U.S.
Congressman Laudivio Carvalho will head the commission. Romario is already leading a similar commission in the Brazilian Senate. This commission, which was set up following the arrests in May, also has corruption in Brazilian football in sight as well as the organization of the 2014 World Cup.
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