FIFA has once again been rocked after it emerged that one of President Sepp Blatter’s strongest allies is being probed over an alleged €4 million payment made to a company in Brazil.
The investigation into the Brazilian FA (CBF) and its president, Ricardo Teixeira, centres around a friendly match between Brazil and Portugal in November 2008.
It is alleged that public money was paid to a company in Rio de Janeiro, Ailanto Marketing, to help promote, market and organise the match, although none was actually used for that purpose.
According to French newspaper L’Equipe, the money’s final destination cannot be tracked, although it is known that the game itself was eventually funded by the Brazilian Football Federation.
The paper adds that arrest warrants have been issued against the leaders of the company Ailanto.
Meanwhile, anti-corruption organisation Transparency International has advised FIFA to make comprehensive changes to their governance after warning that public trust in the sport’s world governing body was ‘at an all-time low’ following a series of scandals.
The friendly between Brazil and Portugal resulted in a 6-2 win for the South Americans, with Luís Fabiano, then with Sevilha, scoring a hat-trick.
