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FIFA suspends Brazil's Del Nero

December 15, 2017

Marco Polo Del Nero, the president of Brazil's football confederation, has been suspended for 90 days while he is under an ethics investigation. He has remained in power despite facing US corruption charges.

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Brasilien Präsident des Fußballverbandes Marco Polo Del Nero
Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/G. Serebrenick

FIFA announced in a statement on Friday that Marco Polo Del Nero, 76, has been suspended for 90 days as he is investigated by the governing body's ethics committee.

"Mr. Polo Del Nero is banned from all football activities at both national and international level," the FIFA statement read. It also said that his suspension could be extended by up to 45 days as the ethics committee completes its investigation. It did not give a reason for the ethics probe.

Del Nero has served as president of the Brazilian Football Confederation for two years. Since December 2015, he has also faced US indictments on charges of racketeering and money. He was one of the officials to flee FIFA's infamous 2015 Congress in Zurich, which was raided by FBI and Swiss officials.

He has not been extradited from Brazil to face the charges and has told the Brazilian Senate two years ago that he was "unjustly accused" and that he had "nothing to hide."

Jose Maria Marin, Del Nero's predecessor at the CBF, has been on trial in New York since November alongside former CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout and former head of the Peruvian football association Manuel Burga. Sixteen football officials from Latin America have been indicted as part of the US-led investigation.

dv/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)