Ex-FIFA President Joao Havelange and his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira took multi-million dollar bribes on World Cup deals, Swiss prosecutors said in a legal document released on Wednesday, dealing a fresh blow to world soccer’s ruling body.
The two Brazilian soccer administrators were named for the first time in a case which has its roots in the 1990s but will add to the pressure on FIFA to show it is cleaning up its act.
The document, issued by the prosecutor’s office in the Swiss region of Zug, noted that both Teixeira and FIFA’s legal representative had denied any criminal conduct. Havelange did not comment on the accusation of criminal conduct, it added.
Havelange, a Brazilian who was head of FIFA from 1974 to 1998, received a payment of 1.5 million Swiss francs ($1.53 million) in March 1997 from now-defunct sports marketing body ISL, the Swiss prosecutors said.
ISL sold the commercial rights to broadcast World Cup competitions on behalf of FIFA. It collapsed with debts of around $300 million in 2001.
Teixeira, who led the Brazilian Football Confederation from 1989 until stepping down earlier this year, took 12.7 million francs between 1992 and 1997, the prosecutors said.
Released after pressure from a number of media groups, the document gave details of a Swiss criminal case which was dropped in May 2010 after Havelange and Teixeira agreed to pay reparations.
Havelange, who is 96 and has been suffering from poor health, and Teixeira have been two of the leading figures in Brazilian sports administration for decades.
The two men could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
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