Official: Sandro Rosell resigns

SAO PAULO - Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has been accused in Brazil of illegally benefiting from a friendly organized by his marketing company in 2008.

Prosecutors said Tuesday the Ailanto sports marketing company, which is owned by Rosell, was hired to organize the Brazil vs. Portugal friendly without a proper bidding process. They also say a false document was used to give the company the contract for the match.

Prosecutors said Ailanto received $4 million to organize the match in Brasilia, the nation's capital.

A court has accepted the prosecutors' claims, saying there is enough evidence to back up their case, but the defence still has to be heard before formal charges can be filed.

Rosell, Barcelona's president since July 2010, could face up to eight years in prison in Brazil if he is charged and found guilty.

Rosell's lawyer in Brazil, Antenor Madruga, dismissed the accusations. He said Rosell had already been cleared of previous accusations that he illegally bought the rights to the match from the Brazilian federation.

"The charges that have been levelled are under two allegations," Madruga told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "One about whether his company had the capacity to promote matches, the other whether he presented false documents to prove he was able to promote matches. The police investigation did not come to any conclusion, but the prosecutor went ahead anyway."

Prosecutors allege the company had just been created and did not yet have the capacity to promote matches.

"The contract had nothing to do about capacity, it's about owning rights to the match," Madruga said. "Hence the charges are ridiculous, it's nothing. The legality of this case rests on nothing."

Prosecutors also allege a document from a different company was presented in the process, but Madruga said it was not a "false" document because both companies "are both 99 per cent owned" by Rosell.

"Sandro had the rights to the game and he used that to proceed," Madruga said. "The game was a success, Portugal did play. This happens in Brazil sometimes, they do these things due to other motivations. Sandro owned the rights and that is what is important."

After the three-year investigation, prosecutors also accused former federal district Gov. Jose Roberto Arruda of hiring Ailanto without the proper bidding process. They also said that Arruda still used some public funds to help organize the friendly, despite already having paid Rosell's company to stage the match.

Former Brazilian federation president Ricardo Teixeira had been linked to Ailanto in the past, but he was not among those accused by prosecutors in this case.

The irregularities in the friendly came up just before Teixeira resigned from the federation and the local 2014 World Cup organizing committee amid of widespread allegations of corruption and irregularities on his administration.

Mr Nick09 wrote:how is he trying to sign Nerman for 90m?

The Spanish giant, FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with the Brazilian Santos for the transfer of Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior according to Sky Italia.Transfer is worth €92m..

Mr Nick09 wrote:Sky italia slept enough mole?

Surag wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:Sky italia slept enough mole?

They were the first to report the Bayern-Guardiola agreement.Not saying this report is the absolute truth though.But they're usually very reliable.

Yohan Modric wrote:92m.

El Shaarawy wrote:

Yohan Modric wrote:92m.

Galliani rereading the report to be check if its 9.2m

El Shaarawy wrote:

Yohan Modric wrote:92m.

Galliani rereading the report to be check if its 9.2m

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Surag wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:Sky italia :lol:slept enough mole?

They were the first to report the Bayern-Guardiola agreement.Not saying this report is the absolute truth though.But they're usually very reliable.

That is pretty much the first time i have seen them call something right....

I was laughing at the time because they almost wrong 99% of the time.

I am speaking about them from a foreign standpoint btw i don't what they are like for Italian stuff but their foreign stuff is horrible almost to the stage you totally ignore it.

They said Ba was joining Galatasaray last summer ffs.

Mr Nick09 wrote:Sky italia :lol:slept enough mole?

El Shaarawy wrote:Don't they have good youth? If so, why go for Neymar. It just seems like a waste of money