The following is a translation of the news released 7 hours ago by journalist Jamil Chade (@jamilchade) in O Estado de São Paulo, a brazilian newspaper: http://t.co/bjiUt6HMDl

 

Part of the money paid to the Brazilian FA (CBF) for friendlies was embezzled

Money from Brazil’s friendlies ended up in US accounts and the contract points that the current president of FC Barcelona received part of the gains

 

BASEL – Part of the money paid to CBF by teams around the world as payment to face the Seleção was not deposited in brazilian accounts, but sent to companies in the United States, registered in the name of Sandro Rosell, current FC Barcelona president, ex-representative of Nike in Brazil, and personal friend of Ricardo Teixeira. Such acts, according to documents and sources consulted with exclusivity by “Estado”, would have stained Teixeira’s management of CBF since 2006.

In the last few years, arranging friendlies have been the main source of income for Football Associations. In Brazil’s case, the fact of having been World Cup Champion in 2002, vice in 1998, and the only team to have won it five times has allowed CBF and its agents to increase the ammount of money required to play around the world.

From Gabon to Hong Kong, even Estonia or Zimbabwe, the Seleção has circled the globe charging at least $ 1 million per friendly. The holder of the rights to organize such games is, since 2006, ISE, company from the Cayman Islands.

But, according to people involved in the payments of such friendlies, not all the money paid by the foreign FAs, image rights or foreign countries was sent to Brazil. Its destination was US accounts.

A pre-contract obtained by “Estado” shows that ISE secured a deal to manage 24 friendlies with the company Uptrend Development LLC, from New Jersey, USA. Representing such company in the US, is one Alexandre R. Feliu, the official name of Sandro Rosell Feliu.

Thats how it worked: from each game, ISE received around $ 1,6 million. From that total, $ 1,1 million went straight to CBF as payment for the game. But the rest – around $ 500 thousand – was not in CBF’s books. According to the contract acquired by “Estado”, $ 450 thousand were sent to accounts in the USA, to a company belonging to Rosell.

In total, the contract points that, for 24 games, the total payment was supposed to be $ 10,9 million to the US company. Divided for 24 games, it would make $ 450 thousand.

The Seleção games became a money making machine taking a cue from Argentina, where the president of the argentina FA, Julio Grondona, already did such schemes. CBF obtained a copy of the agreements that Argentina closed and tried to apply the same schemes in Brazil.

Alongside Rosell, CBF went searching for partners that could close a wider deal to promote the Seleção games around the world. Rosell and Teixeira kept for years a friendship and entered in commercial deals, especially when the catalan was Nike’s director in Brazil.

The rights over the Seleção games ended up being acquired by a group of arab investors from ISE, the company based in the Cayman Islands, a fiscal paradise. Soon after, a deal between ISE and Kentaro, from Switzerland, allowed that the swiss company managed the friendlies.

FC Barcelona’s president was investigated in Brasil due to a friendly between Brazil x Portugal, in Brasilia, in november 2008.

Weeks before leaving CBF, in march 2012, and moving to the US, Teixeira renewed the deal with ISE until 2022.

Months after taking over, CBF’s president, José Maria Marin, indicated that such deals were not adequate. But insisted they were commercial contracts “that needed to be respected”. Questioned by “Estado” about the deposits in the US, Marin stated that he “is not aware” of any detail on how the payments were made before he took over CBF.

In exchange to having the monopoly over the Seleção, the company had as obligations to present options of adversaries to Brazil, a quality pitch and stadium and cover all the operation costs. To profit, those companies would keep the ticket money and would be free to sell the broadcasting rights of the games to other countries.

In a phone interview to Bate-Bola, a football program in Brazil, Mr Chade said there is more to come regarding this matter.