Former FIFA president João Havelange has resigned from his post as honary president following allegations of bribery.
A report from FIFA’s ethics committee has named the Brazilian as having received bribes along with two former executive committee members Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz as receiving bribes. All three have since resigned from FIFA.
The report states: “Mr Havelange has long held solely an honorary position, which does not qualify him as an ‘official’ under the code of ethics. Further, Mr Havelange resigned his position as honorary president effective 18.04.2013.”
Current FIFA president Sepp Blatter has welcomed the report and issued a statement stating that he has been cleared of any misconduct.
He said: “I also note with satisfaction that this report confirms that ‘President Blatter’s conduct could not be classified in any way as misconduct with regard to any ethics rules’.
“I have no doubt that FIFA, thanks to the governance reform process that I proposed, now has the mechanisms and means to ensure that such an issue – which has caused untold damage to the reputation of our institution – does not happen again.”
Source: The Independent
