Skip to main content

Teixeira quits as Brazilian football chief

updated 2:43 PM EDT, Mon March 12, 2012
Ricardo Teixeira has quit his position as head of the Brazilian Football Federation and 2014 World Cup organizing committee.
Ricardo Teixeira has quit his position as head of the Brazilian Football Federation and 2014 World Cup organizing committee.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Ricardo Teixeira has resigned as president of the Brazilian Football Confederation
  • Teixeira has also relinquished his post as head of Brazil's 2014 World Cup committee
  • Jose Maria Marin has been named as Teixeira's successor with immediate effect

(CNN) -- Ricardo Teixeira has resigned as both the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and head of Brazil's organizing committee for the 2014 World Cup finals.

The 64-year-old Teixeira announced last week that he was taking a leave of absence for medical reasons, although it was not made clear what his health problem was.

And, in a statement released on the CBF's official website, Teixeira said: "I leave the presidency of the CBF permanently with the sense of mission accomplished.

"I did what was within my reach, sacrificing my health. I was criticized in the losses and undervalued in the victories."

His successor has already been named as Jose Maria Marin, who had been acting as CBF president in Teixeira's absence.

Brazil's talent staying at home

But the 79-year-old Marin has has now been handed the job on a permanent basis, as he attempts to bring stability to the organization, with the World Cup finals just two years away.

One of Marin's first announcement's was to confirm that former World Cup winners Ronaldo and Bebeto would be joining the World Cup organizing committee.

And former Brazilian international Romario has spoken about Teixeira's departure, saying on his official Facebook page: "Today we celebrate. We have destroyed a cancer in Brazilian football.

I leave the presidency of the CBF permanently with the sense of mission accomplished
Ricardo Teixeira

"I wish good luck to the new president and I hope that from now the CBF give a new face for our football."

He continued: "I not only believe, but also hope, that a general cleaning will now be done in the CBF. Only then can we definitely be assured that change will happen in every sense."

Teixeira, who took over as president in 1989, had been under intense pressure in recent weeks, amid unproven allegations that he was involved in bribery and embezzlement during the 1990's.

He also came under fire from world governing body FIFA last week, with secretary general Jerome Valcke expressing his concern over the lack of progress on preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
CNN Football Club
Be part of CNN's coverage of European Champions League matches and join the social debate.
updated 10:34 AM EDT, Wed April 24, 2013
Luis Suarez's biting of Branislav Ivanovic is the latest episode of moments of madness when soccer stars behave badly.
updated 5:38 AM EDT, Fri March 29, 2013
Former South African president and Nobel peace prize laureate Nelson Mandela joins guests at his home in Cape Town, on August 20, 2008 to celebrate his 90th birthday year, at an event organised by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (RODGER BOSCH
Sunderland's partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation is part of its bid to woo the African market.
updated 11:58 AM EDT, Thu March 28, 2013
South African children play football in a township in Bloemfontein on June 21, 2010. South Africa will face France in their final Group A, 2010 World Cup, first round football match on June 22.
Each year as many as 700 Cameroonian young footballers leave Africa in search of a professional career abroad.
updated 8:01 AM EDT, Mon May 6, 2013
Referees across Europe are feeling the heat. Insulted, threatened, chased off the field, attacked, hospitalized and, tragically, killed.
updated 8:45 AM EST, Wed March 6, 2013
A red card for Manchester United's Nani during Tuesday's loss to Real Madrid sparks huge social media reaction.
updated 7:25 AM EST, Tue February 26, 2013
A real human brain being displayed as part of new exhibition at the @Bristol attraction is seen on March 8, 2011 in Bristol, England. The Real Brain exhibit - which comes with full consent from a anonymous donor and needed full consent from the Human Tissue Authority - is suspended in large tank engraved with a full scale skeleton on one side and a diagram of the central nervous system on the other and is a key feature of the All About Us exhibition opening this week.
Footballers have a battery of physios, fitness trainers and doctors all striving to fine-tune their physique -- but are they missing a trick?
updated 9:24 AM EST, Tue February 26, 2013
No Englishman has won the EPL title in over 20 years, while a leading manager reveals that English coaches are now "not respected abroad."
updated 5:33 AM EDT, Mon May 13, 2013
Football supporters demonstrate in front of Italian TV RAI after the match between A.C.Milan and Lazio Roma was cancelled 11 November 2007. The spectre of football violence resurged in Italy on Sunday as the shooting dead of a fan sparked nationwide disturbances which forced the suspension of several Serie A matches. Banner reads 'Racism can stop League but death of tifosi has no signification.
Hardcore Italian football "ultra" Federico is a Lazio supporter who happily admits directing monkey chants at black players.
updated 6:23 AM EST, Tue March 5, 2013
When Jupp Heynckes made his Bundesliga debut as a player in 1965, the name of Bayern Munich was a new one for the nascent German league.
updated 2:02 PM EST, Tue February 19, 2013
Football's world governing body FIFA has confirmed it will use goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
updated 9:03 AM EST, Tue February 19, 2013
Match-fixing has become a worldwide issue, with hundreds of matches under investigation -- but how do you actually fix a football game?
updated 12:00 PM EST, Mon February 18, 2013
U.S soccer star Robbie Rogers has "come out" as gay on the day he retired from the game, making the announcement on his blog.
updated 5:31 PM EST, Mon February 11, 2013
The wealth of owners like Chelsea's Roman Abramovich often fuels success, but for other clubs such backers prove a mixed blessing.
updated 12:40 PM EST, Thu January 31, 2013
Brand Beckham is moving from the "City of Angels" to the "City of Light" as the football icon signs a short-term deal and offers to give away his pay.
updated 7:47 AM EST, Thu January 31, 2013
Fireworks inside his own house, a car crash in his first week at Manchester City, that iconic t-shirt -- the EPL will miss Mario Balotelli.
updated 8:42 AM EST, Wed January 30, 2013
The Secret Footballer reveals the complex issues surrounding racism in the English Premier League.
updated 10:43 AM EST, Wed January 30, 2013
The death of 73 football fans in Port Said tragedy continues to haunt Egypt.
ADVERTISEMENT