Report reveals FIFA officials received huge amounts in bribes

Former FIFA president Joao Havelange and executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira were paid large sums in bribes, a report has revealed.

Husmukh Kerai/Goal.com

London: Former FIFA president Joao Havelange and executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira were paid large sums in bribes by ISL Marketing, the football governing body`s marketing partner up until 2001, a report has revealed. The Swiss prosecutor`s report, published by Fifa, reveals that the two may have received up to €18.2m, with Havelange receiving at least €1,248,700 and Teixeira at least €10.6m. Switzerland`s supreme court ordered the release of the documents identifying which senior officials took payments from ISL in return for lucrative marketing rights for FIFA competitions. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said last year that he was in favour of releasing the ISL dossier. "FIFA is pleased that the ISL non-prosecution order can now be made public," a statement from FIFA said. "This decision by the Federal Court is in line with what FIFA and the FIFA president have been advocating since 2011, when world football`s governing body announced its commitment to the publication of the ISL non-prosecution order. "The decision of the Swiss Federal Court also confirms that only two foreign officials will be named as part of the process and that the Fifa president is not involved in the case." BBC`s Panorama programme, which was criticised after England`s failed bid for the 2018 World Cup, alleged that three senior FIFA officials, including Teixeira, took bribes from ISL in the 1990s. A statement issued by the BBC said: "A year long legal battle by BBC Panorama to force publication of documents related to a confidential police investigation into bribery and corruption at FIFA was vindicated today. "In Panorama – FIFA`s Dirty Secrets in November 2010, reporter Andrew Jennings named the two officials as recipients of bribes from the Swiss ISL sports marketing company, which was repeatedly given lucrative World Cup marketing rights by FIFA." Havelange resigned from the International Olympic Committee in December days before the Olympic body was due to sanction him following its own investigation into his dealings with ISL. Meanwhile, Teixeira resigned as head of Brazil`s football federation and the 2014 World Cup organising committee this year.