Brazil's antitrust watchdog is investigating "allegations that a cartel comprised of the country's leading construction groups rigged the bidding for billions of dollars of stadium contracts for the 2014 World Cup," according to Joe Leahy of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The competition regulator, Cade, said that "it had signed a leniency agreement with one of the alleged cartel, Andrade Gutierrez, in return for the construction company revealing details of the group's activities." Cade said, "At least five tenders in relation to civil construction [and] projects for the modernization and/or renovation of football stadiums were the objects of anti-competitive conduct." The alleged misconduct follows "mass protests ahead of the World Cup by millions of Brazilians against public spending on the event given the lack of adequate government services in the country, especially schools and hospitals." The mass protests "contributed to the fall" of former leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached in August for manipulating the budget, by undermining her "once soaring" approval ratings. Last month, police placed former Rio de Janeiro Governor Sérgio Cabral under preventive arrest, alleging that "he had received as bribes a percentage of the total cost of works to improve the Maracanã stadium where the 2014 World Cup final was held." He has denied wrongdoing. Cade alleged that construction companies involved in the bid rigging also included Carioca Christiani Nielsen Engenharia, Construções e Comércio Camargo Corrêa, Construtora OAS, Construtora Queiroz Galvão and Odebrecht Investimentos em Infraestrutura. Cade said that "the investigation originated from a bigger probe into corruption at state-owned oil company Petrobras" (FT, 12/5).