Pelé said that if there was a conversation about a cash-for-votes scheme, he "was not privy to it."GETTY IMAGES
Former Brazil int'l Pelé "denied knowledge of a cash-for-votes scheme" allegedly used by Brazilian officials to secure Rio de Janeiro's hosting rights for the 2016 Olympic Games, according to XINHUA. The 77-year-old testified before a judge in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, having been cited as a defense witness for former Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman. Pelé: "If there was any conversation about (bribes), I was not privy to it." Nuzman is one of six people accused of participating in an operation in which $2M was allegedly paid to African officials "in exchange for their vote for Rio's candidacy." Pelé was part of a Brazilian delegation that traveled to Copenhagen to attend the vote in Oct. '09. Former Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also testified from his jail cell in Curitiba, "where he is serving a 12-year prison sentence for a separate corruption case." Lula was also among the Brazilian officials that traveled to Copenhagen. Lula said, "I never heard of any illegal negotiation and I regret that a complaint has been filed eight years later" (XINHUA, 6/5).
