FIFA suspends Brazilian soccer president Marco Polo del Nero
RIO DE JANEIRO — Marco Polo del Nero was suspended as president of Brazil’s soccer confederation on Friday, two years after he was indicted in the United States on charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
FIFA said Del Nero was under an ethics investigation and has been banned for 90 days from all soccer activities.
Del Nero fled Zurich in May 2015 when other FIFA colleagues were arrested. They included Jose Maria Marin, who was at the time the head of the Brazilian confederation, known as the CBF. Marin and two other South American soccer officials have been on trial in New York. Del Nero was indicted on Dec. 2, 2015.
“As many Brazilians that love soccer, my hope is that he is banned for good,” soccer great Romario — now a Brazilian federal senator — wrote on his Facebook page.