Ex-FIFA President João Havelange and his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira "received millions of dollars" from the collapsed marketing agency ISL, according to Panja & Bandel of BLOOMBERG. The Swiss Federal Court "ordered the release of the documents," Wednesday which relate to a corruption investigation involving the two men. They had "sought to block publication" after journalists requested the court papers, and Zurich-based FIFA published them on its website after the ruling (BLOOMBERG, 7/11). In London, Roger Blitz wrote the Swiss prosecutor's report revealed "FIFA knew about millions of dollars paid in kickbacks to Havelange and Teixeira." The 41-page document said another group, of which the two were beneficial owners, received payments of CHF21.9M between June '99-May '00 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/11). In Zurich, Jean-François Tanda reported that "the reason for the investigation were bribery payments" from ISL to FIFA officials. ISL "received in return for its payments" to Havelange and Teixeira "profitable marketing and TV rights" to FIFA World Cups. ISL went bankrupt in May '01 and the previously secret payments leaked to the public. According to prosecutors, Teixeira received CHF12.7M from ISL. In addition to that "a list of ISL-payment recipients" included Renford Investments Ltd., which was owned by Teixeira. The company received more than CHF5M between March '98 and May '00. Havelange, who was also involved in Renford Investments Ltd., received an additional payment of CHF1.5M in March '97 (HANDELSZEITUNG, 7/11). FIFA said in a press release that it is pleased that the ISL non-prosecution order can now be made public, following the decision by the Swiss Federal Court to allow the publication of the document by the Prosecutor of Zug. This decision by the Federal Court is in line with what FIFA and the FIFA president have been advocating since '11, when world football's governing body announced its commitment to the publication of the ISL non-prosecution order (FIFA).
