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<keyword id="6355226" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="brazil" source="Orion">Brazil</keyword> and <keyword id="5927" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="argentina" source="Orion">Argentina</keyword> will no longer be required to replay a <keyword id="22177" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="world-cup" source="Orion">World Cup</keyword> qualifier that was controversially abandoned last year, both countries' football associations have said.<br /><br />The South American rivals had been slated to play the qualifier last September but the fixture was suspended less than 10 minutes after kickoff because of alleged Covid-19 rule breaches by Argentina.<br /><br /><keyword id="57149" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="fifa" source="Orion">FIFA</keyword> had ordered the match be rescheduled for September 22 but changed its mind following appeals from the <keyword id="171754" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="brazilian-football-confederation" source="Orion">Brazilian Football Confederation</keyword> (<keyword id="365777" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="cbf" source="Orion">CBF</keyword>) and the <keyword id="116373" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="argentine-football-association" source="Orion">Argentine Football Association</keyword> (<keyword id="117970" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="afa" source="Orion">AFA</keyword>), Xinhua reports. "Finally, the match between Brazil-Argentina will not be replayed and the open date will allow for our national team to play a friendly as a result, in preparation for Qatar World Cup 2022," the CBF said.<br /><br />"(We are) grateful to FIFA for the willingness and availability to resolve this problem under these very specific circumstances in this short span of time."<br /><br />In a separate statement, the AFA said it would also seek to play a friendly on the now vacant FIFA date.<br /><br />Brazil and Argentina finished first and second, respectively, in the South American zone qualifying standings for the World Cup, to be played in Qatar from November 21 to December 18.<br /><br />Brazil are in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon while Argentina will face Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia in Group C.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO :<br /><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/tamil-nadu-to-float-tender-for-setting-up-100-ev-charging-stations-along-highways/articleshow/93610152.cms">Tamil Nadu to float tender for setting up 100 EV charging stations along highways</a><br /><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/worlds-biggest-cities-face-worst-air-quality-report/articleshow/93609312.cms"><strong>World's biggest cities face worst air quality: Report</strong></a><br />

Brazil and Argentina not to replay Football World Cup qualifier

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Thousands of the Brazilian rioters <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-capital-attack-came-after-bolsonaro-followed-trump-election-playbook-2023-1">who stormed the national congress</a> wore the same shirt.</li><li>The Brazilian national team's soccer jersey has been appropriated by Bolsonaro for years.</li></ul><p>As thousands of Brazilian supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro rioted in the country's capital on Sunday, many of them wore a shirt and national symbol appropriated by the former right-wing leader.</p><p>After months of protests and road blockades in opposition to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2022 election, Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Brazil's parliament, presidential palace, and supreme court in Brasilia on Sunday in scenes <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-video-chaos-brazil-jair-bolsonaro-trump-us-capitol-riot-2023-1">eerily similar to the January 6, 2021 insurrection</a> in the US.</p><p>Photos showed a sea of yellow, with many rioters wearing the Brazilian national soccer team's iconic canary-colored jersey — which has a long history of being co-opted by right-wing forces in Brazil.</p><h2><div type="image" title="Supporters of Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who dispute the election of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gather at Planalto Palace after invading the building as well as the Congress and Supreme Court, in Brasilia, Brazil January 8, 2023." height="2499" width="5000" msid="96869571" hostid="261" sizebytes="2011856"></div></h2><h2>Bolsonaro has told his supporters to 'vote with the jersey'</h2><p>Bolsonaro — who has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-capital-attack-came-after-bolsonaro-followed-trump-election-playbook-2023-1">yet to formally concede</a> his recent election loss — made the jersey a symbol for his supporters as early as 2015, when he became the center of a movement to unseat former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. By the time he won the election in 2018, and in 2022, he urged his supporters to "vote with the yellow jersey!" <a href="https://theathletic.com/3731736/2022/10/28/brazil-neymar-world-cup-bolsonaro-shirt/">according to The Athletic.</a></p><p>Brazil's most famous current player, Neymar, has shown up as <a href="https://twitter.com/TradutordoBR/status/1584120898449158145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1584120898449158145%7Ctwgr%5E3724a83f2421d28b2ac581bf982f429c0a4324e8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F3731736%2F2022%2F10%2F28%2Fbrazil-neymar-world-cup-bolsonaro-shirt%2F">one of Bolsonaro's biggest supporters</a>, endorsing him multiple times and elevating the link between the jersey and Bolsonaro. When Brazil's national team won the 2019 Copa America, Bolsonaro sat squarely with the players and trophy, smiling ear to ear as he parroted the win.</p><p>By Sunday, thousands of Brazilians wore the jersey as they carried out their assault on democracy. </p><div type="image" title="Security forces detain supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro during a demonstration against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023." height="2443" width="4887" msid="96869572" hostid="261" sizebytes="341282"></div><h2>Brazil's soccer association spoke out about the riots</h2><p>Brazil's Ministry of Justice said that over 1,000 people have been arrested, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/bolsonaro-supporters-riot-brazil-congress-01-08-23/h_003389d79e213a993d9ac45ebb8fe7cd">according to CNN.</a> Bolsonaro is currently in Florida seeking medical treatment.</p><p>Last week's scenes in Brazil's capital also triggered condemnation from the Brazilian Football Confederation, a typically outwardly apolitical organization.</p><p>"The Brazilian national team shirt is a symbol of the joy of our people," the CBF <a href="https://twitter.com/CBF_Futebol/status/1612454427381886977?s=20&amp;t=o42MHWEyqey7idpMrtqGYA">tweeted</a> on Monday. "It's to cheer, energize and love the country. We encourage that the shirt be used to unite and not divide Brazilians." </p><div type="image" title="Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, outside Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023." height="1879" width="3758" msid="96869573" hostid="261" sizebytes="215766"></div><h2>The right-wing  in Brazil has used the shirt for politics since the 1960s</h2><p>After a newspaper held a design contest for a new national team kit in 1953, a yellow and green model was chosen and the old white and blue kit was relegated to history.</p><p>The appropriation of Brazil's Seleção Canarinho (little canary) shirt, the national team's vibrant yellow jersey with green trim, goes back to the days of the country's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985, a time period when Brazil won the 1970 World Cup with Pelé starring.</p><p>"Under [Emilio] Medici, the military would use football as an exemplar of the unified and morally upstanding Brazil it was trying to create," David Goldblatt wrote in the book "Futebol Nation: A Footballing History of Brazil." "The reality was often less edifying."</p><div type="image" title="Pele 1970 World Cup." height="1000" width="2000" msid="96869576" hostid="261" sizebytes="522426"></div><p>During a period of hyperinflation, cultural censorship, and political repression, Brazil's dictatorship centered soccer and the national team as the ultimate expression of patriotic consciousness – a move that Bolsonaro, who was an army captain during the dictatorship, replicated with his supporters. </p><p>At the time, Brazil's 1970 World Cup win helped the dictatorship lay claim to the national team's colors on the world stage, as success on the pitch was re-framed as the strength of Brazil's nationalism.</p><p>"The 1970 World was the first of its kind to be broadcast in color, and that gives it, for those who saw it, a kind of chromatic magic," Goldblatt wrote. "Brazil's yellow shirts shimmered and sparkled in the blistering white sunlight of the Mexican noon — the appointed time of kick-offs to support European TV schedules."</p><p>Just months ago, Brazil's national team wore the kit during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where players like Neymar and Richarlison picked apart defenses and danced while celebrating goals during a short-lived run to the quarter-finals. Now, a new administration will seek to reform a newly-tangled image of the jersey.</p><div type="image" title="Security forces detain supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro during a demonstration against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, outside Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023." height="1992" width="3984" msid="96869583" hostid="261" sizebytes="203012"></div><h2>There is a move to re-appropriate the shirt on the left</h2><p>During da Silva's first weeks in charge, he's already tried to pry the jersey from the clutches of the right wing, now that wearing it has partially become synonymous with being a Bolsonarista, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/24/leftwing-brazilians-reclaim-football-jersey-bolsonaro-world-cup">according to The Guardian.</a></p><p>"We can't be ashamed of wearing our green and yellow shirt," da Silva said in late November, per The Guardian. "[It] doesn't belong to one particular candidate. It doesn't belong to one particular party. Green and yellow are the colors of 213 million citizens who love this country."</p><p>Da Silva said he'd go back to wearing the jersey with the number 13 — the number of the Worker's party — and made his design <a href="https://lula.com.br/camisa-da-copa-torcer-com-lula/">available for soccer fans to download</a> and add to their jersey, as a political statement.</p>

The far-right wore Brazil's national soccer team jersey during anti-democratic riots

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Getty Images" title_caption="Brazil's national team lining up ahead of the 1998 World Cup Final in France." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5568775069beddac6fa0e1b2-960/brazil-1998-world-cup.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Brazil's national team lining up ahead of the 1998 World Cup Final in France.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The FIFA <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-will-be-extradited-to-the-us-2015-5">bribery scandal</a> has entangled many individuals in its web. Now i<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">t looks like Nike may have been dragged into the alleged "ramp</span>ant, systemic, and deep-rooted corruption" that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/27/us-indicts-fifa-officials-rampant-systemic-deep-rooted-corruption">US Attorney General Loretta Lynch</a> says has sullied world football for decades.</p><p>Nike is not named in the <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/450216/download">US Department of Justice indictments</a> charging <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">14 people with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The charges allege they participated in a "24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer." </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The company has said it has not been accused of wrongdoing.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/06d28cd0-055b-11e5-bb7d-00144feabdc0.html">The Financial Times</a> and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/nike-s-deal-seems-to-track-u-s-claim-of-fifa-bribery-in-brazil-ia73w47c">Bloomberg</a> have linked Nike with the unidentified "Sportswear Company A" and "<a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/450216/download">Sportswear Company E</a>," who are listed in the indictments. (The nomenclature is confusing but text of the two separate indictments describes A and E as if they were the same company.)</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Those indictments claim the sportswear company, with the help of a mediator - Brazil-based sports marketing company <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Traffic Group  </span>- signed a 10-year, $160 million deal in 1996 with Brazil's national football federation CBF to sponsor the Brazilian national football team. Nike signed its long-running partnership with the Brazilian football team in the same year.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>Traffic Group has not yet responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The indictment says a high-ranking official from CBF and Traffic Group siphoned off millions of dollars from the deal for themselves in bribes and kickbacks. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It also alleges the sportswear company paid $40 million to Traffic via an affiliate with a Swiss bank account. That, on the surface of it, seems strange. Why pay into an off-shore account - especially in Switzerland, where banks do not share customer information with governments of other countries? </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Again, there's nothing to suggest any wrongdoing on the sportswear company's behalf. But it is odd.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The indictment doesn't name Nike. Nor does it accuse Nike of any wrongdoing. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">However, worryingly for executives at the sportswear company's headquarters in Oregon, it does pull Nike into the ever-changing, murky FIFA scandal.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Nike has not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, the company told The Financial Times: "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The charging documents unsealed yesterday in Brooklyn do not allege that Nike engaged in criminal conduct. There is no allegation in the charging documents that any Nike employee was aware of or knowingly participated in any bribery or kickback scheme."</span></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's what happened, according to the <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/450216/download">indictment</a>:</span></strong></p><ul><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">1994:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> The Brazilian national football team lifts the World Cup in the USA. At around the same time, a representative from Sportswear Company E approaches CBF to see if it would be interested in sponsorship. At the time, the Brazilian team was sponsored by Umbro.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">An unidentified high-ranking CONMEBOL (the South American Football Federation) and CBF official, and the founder of Traffic Group José Hawilla (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/traffic-group-fifa-corruption-scandal-2015-5">who in December of last year </a></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/traffic-group-fifa-corruption-scandal-2015-5">waived indictment and pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice</a>), began negotiations with Sportswear Company E.</span></li><li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">1996:</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;"> Discussions finally closed in New York. On July 11, a contract for a $160 million, 10-year deal was signed between the high-ranking CBF official, Hawilla on behalf of Traffic Brazil, and four members of Sportswear Company E. The sportswear company became a co-sponsor and exclusive footwear apparel, accessories, and equipment supplier.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">As part of the agreement CBF remitted a percentage of the value of the payments it received from the sportswear company to Traffic Brazil.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Sportswear Company E also agreed to pay an affiliate of Traffic with a Swiss bank account an additional $40 million in compensation, on top of the $160 million it was obligated to pay to CBF.</span></li><li><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">1996-1999 </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">Over this period, Traffic invoiced the sportswear company directly for $30 million in payments.</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">An executive from Traffic "agreed to pay and did pay" the high-ranking official from CBF half of the money he made from the sponsorship deal, "totaling in the millions of dollars, as a bribe and kickback."</span></li><li><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">2002 </span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #222222;">The parties terminated the agreement before the end of the 10-year term.</span></li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trends-behind-brand-disney-michelle-phan-youtube-2015-5">Here's the most important trend that's changing the way big brands interact with you</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1heHVhdToDWPu4yqcOB7vXNXwwBglWhz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Nike, the Brazilian national football team, and $40 million paid into a Swiss bank account

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>FIFA has been the subject of most headlines surrounding corruption in the football world going back decades, but much of the indictment brought by the US Department of Justice (<a href="http://images.businessweek.com/bloomberg/pdfs/FIFAindictment.pdf">which you can read in full here courtesy of Bloomberg</a>) refers to the misconduct of multi-national sports marketing agency Traffic Group.</p><p>Even ahead of the indictment's publication on Wednesday, Traffic Group had already been subject to government investigations in Brazil. A well-placed source tells Business Insider the company has been on a "downward spiral" for the past five years in terms of its perception in the industry.</p><p><span>In December, The DOJ says the owner and founder of Traffic Group, José Hawilla, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy (the most severe crime, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years in US jail,) wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hawilla also agreed to forfeit over $151 million in ill-gained profits made from bribes and kickbacks from sports governing bodies, sportswear companies, and officials over a two-decade period. </span></p><p><span>Aaron Davidson, Traffic Group's US president (and also chairman of the North American Soccer League) has also been indicted by US federal prosecutors.</span></p><p><span>The indictment alleges Traffic Group's corruption began back in the early 1990s when Hawilla cut a deal to acquire the worldwide commercial rights for the CONMEBOL's Copa America national team tournament, soliciting tens of millions of dollars in bribes to do so, which also included deals for sponsorship rights acquired by US sportswear companies. </span></p><p><span>It is also claimed Hawilla paid Jack Warner (then president of North American football governing body CONCACAF, who has since been indicted by the DOJ) and Charles Blazer (then CONCACAF general secretary, who has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion and faces incarceration of up to 10 years) bribes to win rights for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. And the DOJ says in its indictment that Traffic Group also paid bribes for other rights involving federations in Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nicaragua.</span></p><p>One of the achievements Traffic Group is most famous for is mediating the $369 million deal between Nike and the Brazilian national football team in 1996 - <a href="http://www.traffic.com.br/site/EN/historia">the sports marketing company proudly boasts about this on its website</a>. But, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/nike-s-deal-seems-to-track-u-s-claim-of-fifa-bribery-in-brazil-ia73w47c">as Bloomberg points out,</a> even this deal looks fishy. The indictment mentions an "unidentified U.S sportswear company" that signed a partnership with the Brazilian football federation in 1996, on which the sports marketing company took a commission, which went on to be paid to a "high-ranking" official at Brazil's football federation CBF.</p><p>Nike declined to comment to Bloomberg on the specific allegations but said in a statement: "Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and we will continue to cooperate, with the authorities."</p><h3><span><strong>A history of corruption</strong><br /></span></h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><p>When Business Insider asked several sports marketing executives in the UK - where football was invented and the home of one of the most popular club football leagues in the world - barely any could offer much insight on Traffic Group. But in Brazil, they are well-known, thanks to its relationship with Copa America and CBF.</p><p><span>Even if the arrests had not happened</span><span>, the "golden era" is over for Traffic Group, said o</span>ne Brazil-based sports marketing executive, who spoke to Business Insider on a condition of anonymity for fear of "retaliation" as "these guys are like members of the Mafia." Our source added: the last five years the company has been on a "downwards spiral."</p><p>Traffic Group started in 1980 selling pitch-side <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> boards at small Brazilian football competitions. From there, it grew up to acquire rights for several competitions and federations such as the South American federation CONMEBOL, reselling broadcast sponsorships.</p><p>In 1987, it took over the organization and marketing of the Copa America (America Cup.) The business later expanded its locations to the United States and further afield in the early 2000s. But it is most famous for its relationship with the Brazilian national football team.</p><p>That relationship has been subject to scrutiny since the early 2000s. As documented in Leandro Cipoloni's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lado-Sucio-del-Futbol-Traiciones/dp/6070723198/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1432799439&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Leandro+Cipoloni">"The Dirty Side of Football,"</a> there have been<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Teixeira#Corruption_allegations"> two Brazilian government investigations into the CBF</a> and its commercial relationships, concerning bribes and kickbacks. Nobody involved in either organization faced jail time over corruption allegations until now.</p><p>Our source said: "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In a way, CBF corruption is old news in Brazil. The relationship between Traffic and Brazil has always been dodgy to say the least. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Everyone has known it has been going on for a while. There have been TV reports. Two Brazilian parliamentary investigations in the early 2000s ... but MPs were able to stop the publication of the investigation. That was insane - how could a federal report be deemed not suitable for publication? The real news now is that people could go to jail. But corruption within CBF, that's not news for us."</span></p><h3>What's next for Traffic?</h3><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Traffic Group was once one of the five biggest sports marketing agencies in the world, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/uk-soccer-fifa-brazil-idUKKBN0OD0A220150528">according to Reuters</a>. The continued success of the Brazilian football team appeared to be the linchpin of its success. But now, just as Brazil has missed out lifting the World Cup for the past three competitions, Traffic's star has faded.<br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Traffic didn't do enough to move with the times, according to one source, who says "they just sell rights and players." Other sports marketing agencies offer strategic counsel that stretch from grassroots marketing to digital campaigns.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>Cipoloni</span> <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/uk-soccer-fifa-brazil-idUKKBN0OD0A220150528">told Reuters in reaction to Wednesday's arrests</a>: "Now the house of cards is coming down."</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Traffic still makes money from its relationship with CBF and CONMEBOL but they are not the role model they used to be and [if the US DOJ or Swiss DOJ investigations] change those relationships they will not have a business to be in any more," our source said.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He added: "Fifteen years ago when I was thinking about going into sports marketing in Brazil, I said 'I want to be at Traffic.' Now - even five years ago - I would not even think about it."</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Our source said the allegations facing Traffic Sports and the scandals surrounding Brazilian football could even put off big multi-national sponsorship agencies, like IEG and Octagon, which recently entered the country in the build up to the 2014 Brazil World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics from staying in the country once the major competitions are over.</span></p>

Here's what we know about Total Sports, the sports marketing company embroiled in the FIFA corruption scandal

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>FIFA has been the subject of most headlines surrounding corruption in the football world going back decades, but much of the indictment brought by the US Department of Justice (<a href="http://images.businessweek.com/bloomberg/pdfs/FIFAindictment.pdf">which you can read in full here courtesy of Bloomberg</a>) refers to the misconduct of multi-national sports marketing agency Traffic Group.</p><p>Even ahead of the indictment's publication on Wednesday, Traffic Group had already been subject to government investigations in Brazil. A well-placed source tells Business Insider the company has been on a "downward spiral" for the past five years in terms of its perception in the industry.</p><p>In December, The DOJ says the owner and founder of Traffic Group, José Hawilla, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy (the most severe crime, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years in US jail,) wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hawilla also agreed to forfeit over $151 million in ill-gained profits made from bribes and kickbacks from sports governing bodies, sportswear companies, and officials over a two-decade period.</p><p>Aaron Davidson, Traffic Group's US president (and also chairman of the North American Soccer League) has also been indicted by US federal prosecutors.</p><p><span>The indictment alleges Traffic Group's corruption began back in the early 1990s when Hawilla cut a deal to acquire the worldwide commercial rights for the CONMEBOL's Copa America national team tournament, soliciting tens of millions of dollars in bribes to do so, which also included deals for sponsorship rights acquired by US sportswear companies. </span></p><p>It is also claimed Hawilla paid Jack Warner (then president of North American football governing body CONCACAF, who has since been indicted by the DOJ) and Charles Blazer (then CONCACAF general secretary, who has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion and faces incarceration of up to 10 years) bribes to win rights for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. And the DOJ says in its indictment that Traffic Group also paid bribes for other rights involving federations in Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nicaragua.</p><p>One of the achievements Traffic Group is most famous for is mediating the $369 million deal between Nike and the Brazilian national football team in 1996 - <a href="http://www.traffic.com.br/site/EN/historia">the sports marketing company proudly boasts about this on its website</a>. But, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-27/nike-s-deal-seems-to-track-u-s-claim-of-fifa-bribery-in-brazil-ia73w47c">as Bloomberg points out,</a> even this deal looks fishy. The indictment mentions an "unidentified U.S sportswear company" that signed a partnership with the Brazilian football federation in 1996, on which the sports marketing company took a commission, which went on to be paid to a "high-ranking" official at Brazil's football federation CBF.</p><p>Nike declined to comment to Bloomberg on the specific allegations but said in a statement: "Nike believes in ethical and fair play in both business and sport and strongly opposes any form of manipulation or bribery. We have been cooperating, and we will continue to cooperate, with the authorities."</p><h3><strong>A history of corruption</strong></h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>When Business Insider asked several sports marketing executives in the UK - where football was invented and the home of one of the most popular club football leagues in the world - barely any could offer much insight on Traffic Group. But in Brazil, they are well-known, thanks to its relationship with Copa America and CBF.</p><p><span>Even if the arrests had not happened , the "golden era" is over for Traffic Group, said o</span>ne Brazil-based sports marketing executive, who spoke to Business Insider on a condition of anonymity for fear of "retaliation" as "these guys are like members of the Mafia." Our source added: the last five years the company has been on a "downwards spiral."</p><p>Traffic Group started in 1980 selling pitch-side <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> boards at small Brazilian football competitions. From there, it grew up to acquire rights for several competitions and federations such as the South American federation CONMEBOL, reselling broadcast sponsorships.</p><p>In 1987, it took over the organization and marketing of the Copa America (America Cup.) The business later expanded its locations to the United States and further afield in the early 2000s. But it is most famous for its relationship with the Brazilian national football team.</p><p>That relationship has been subject to scrutiny since the early 2000s. As documented in Leandro Cipoloni's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lado-Sucio-del-Futbol-Traiciones/dp/6070723198/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1432799439&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Leandro+Cipoloni">"The Dirty Side of Football,"</a> there have been<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Teixeira#Corruption_allegations"> two Brazilian government investigations into the CBF</a> and its commercial relationships, concerning bribes and kickbacks. Nobody involved in either organization faced jail time over corruption allegations until now.</p><p>Our source said: " In a way, CBF corruption is old news in Brazil. The relationship between Traffic and Brazil has always been dodgy to say the least. Everyone has known it has been going on for a while. There have been TV reports. Two Brazilian parliamentary investigations in the early 2000s ... but MPs were able to stop the publication of the investigation. That was insane - how could a federal report be deemed not suitable for publication? The real news now is that people could go to jail. But corruption within CBF, that's not news for us."</p><h3>What's next for Traffic?</h3><p>Traffic Group was once one of the five biggest sports marketing agencies in the world, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/uk-soccer-fifa-brazil-idUKKBN0OD0A220150528">according to Reuters</a>. The continued success of the Brazilian football team appeared to be the linchpin of its success. But now, just as Brazil has missed out lifting the World Cup for the past three competitions, Traffic's star has faded.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div> Traffic didn't do enough to move with the times, according to one source, who says "they just sell rights and players." Other sports marketing agencies offer strategic counsel that stretch from grassroots marketing to digital campaigns.</p><p>Cipoloni <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/uk-soccer-fifa-brazil-idUKKBN0OD0A220150528">told Reuters in reaction to Wednesday's arrests</a>: "Now the house of cards is coming down."</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Traffic still makes money from its relationship with CBF and CONMEBOL but they are not the role model they used to be and [if the US DOJ or Swiss DOJ investigations] change those relationships they will not have a business to be in any more," our source said. </span></p><p>He added: "Fifteen years ago when I was thinking about going into sports marketing in Brazil, I said 'I want to be at Traffic.' Now - even five years ago - I would not even think about it."</p><p>Our source said the allegations facing Traffic Sports and the scandals surrounding Brazilian football could even put off big multi-national sponsorship agencies, like IEG and Octagon, which recently entered the country in the build up to the 2014 Brazil World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics from staying in the country once the major competitions are over.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/offside-soccer-rules-world-cup-2014-6">Here's How Offside Works In Soccer </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="VpMnI5bjrYY23gQc8Nk-r0dMC8gi6M9b" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's what we know about Traffic Group, the sports marketing company embroiled in the FIFA corruption scandal

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Fabrice Coffrini/AFP</span></p><p class="caption">Luiz Felipe Scolari</p></div><p></p></div></div>Brazil's football confederation (CBF) will not renew national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's contract, local media reported early Monday, just hours after Germany defeated Argentina to win the 2014 World Cup.</p>
<p>Scolari said that he would let the CBF decide his fate after his team lost the game for third place 3-0 to the Netherlands on Saturday, and after being crushed by Germany in a humiliating 7-1 defeat on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Tuesday's performance was the country's worst defeat since losing the 1950 final game to Uruguay in a tournament held in Brazil, a black mark on the nation's psyche known as the Maracanazo.</p>
<p>Scolari, best known by his nickname Felipao, led Brazil to a World Cup victory in 2002 in Japan. He took over the team in December 2012, just before Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup.</p>
<p>Brazil won that tournament, seen as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, 3-0 in a final match over reigning champions Spain.</p>
<p>Brazil then began preparing for what they hoped would be a sixth World Cup trophy and their first Cup victory at home.</p>
<p>Critics however remained unconvinced by Scolari's unelegant style and rough tactics.</p>
<div class="nc_footer">
<p>Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.</p>
</div>
<p></p>

REPORT: Brazil Fires National Football Coach Felipe Scolari

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source on-image"><keyword id="6354427" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Apple">Apple</keyword></p></div></div>Several <keyword id="6360288" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="college">college</keyword> campuses have reported that their wifi networks have crashed today and were likely affected by mass downloads of Apple's new <keyword id="1507548" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="iOS-7">iOS 7</keyword> operating system.</p>
<p>While few schools are explicitly linking these outages with today's release of iOS 7, many <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="students">students</keyword> are taking to Twitter to make the connection. </p>
<p>The Post, <a href="http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/university-working-solve-internet-problems">Ohio University's student newspaper</a>, reports that "In a university-wide email, students were asked to wait to download iOS 7, Apple's new software upgrade, to potentially prevent further delays."</p>
<p>"On the odd chance that this is related to the iOS 7 update release, please consider waiting to download your copy until the current issues are resolved," said an OU spokesperson.</p>
<p>Here are a few schools that have likely had their wifi crash due to iOS 7 downloads:</p>
<p><strong>New York University</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>It looks like iOS 7's release managed to crash NYU wifi <a href="https://twitter.com/jwherrman">@jwherrman</a>: <a href="http://t.co/cqwuZWYsLz">pic.twitter.com/cqwuZWYsLz</a></p>
- Zak Kukoff (@zck) <a href="https://twitter.com/zck/statuses/380411120311205888">September 18, 2013</a></blockquote>

<p><strong>Ohio University</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ohiou">@ohiou</a> wants you to know that downloading iOS 7 may be why the <keyword id="6357247" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Internet">Internet</keyword> is down across campus. More: <a href="http://t.co/tfU5LJ9cBF">http://t.co/tfU5LJ9cBF</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iPhone&amp;src=hash">#iPhone</a></p>
- Will Drabold (@WillDrabold) <a href="https://twitter.com/WillDrabold/statuses/380402401154306048">September 18, 2013</a></blockquote>

<p><strong>Western Connecticut State University</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>I bet the WestConn internet server is down because everyone is trying to download iOS 7 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23westconnproblems&amp;src=hash">#westconnproblems</a></p>
- Katerina Reyes (@twiggy_601) <a href="https://twitter.com/twiggy_601/statuses/380416600652144640">September 18, 2013</a></blockquote>

You Searched For "cbf" and got 7 results

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