Brazil’s Sports Minister Resigns

I hereby solemnly pledge to skim as much off the top as possible…"

One of the key officials responsible for organizing the Brazil 2014 World Cup has resigned under pressure, following allegations of corruption that have prompted an investigation.

Orlando Silva is accused of requiring “commissions” from groups seeking funding from the Sports Ministry. Silva is a member of Brazil’s Communist Party, one of the ruling parties in President Dilma Rousseff’s governing coalition. He has denied the accusations, appeared three times before Congress, and claims there is no evidence to support the charges.

Rousseff had previously backed Silva, but she’s been under increasing pressure to clean up her cabinet. He is the fifth minister to resign following a corruption scandal since Rousseff took office in January.

The primary accusations against Silva were presented by Joao Dias Ferreira, a former cop who represents a martial arts foundation that received funding from the Sports Ministry through a program called Second Half. Ferreira himself has been arrested and charged with fraud in connection with those funds, and has apparently decided to take Silva down with him. He claims that, in order to receive the funding he needed for his martial arts programs, he was required to pay commissions which went directly to Silva or his closest associates.

The Sports Ministry in Brazil is supposed to assist impoverished communities to establish youth sports programs, but the ministry is heavily involved in planning not only for the World Cup but also for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Though the accusations against Silva are not directly related to either of these major sporting events, it still looks really bad.

I’ll let you speculate on what the repercussions will be from this at the CBF and FIFA, but I can definitely say that this is not the position Brazil wants to be in when it’s preparing to stage both of the world’s largest sports tournaments in less than five years’ time. President Rousseff will have to face the challenge of finding a sports minister with a squeaky clean image who can rise above this mess and right the ship. Romario would be the lulzy pick, but I don’t think it will happen.