BRASILIA: Barcelona president Sandro Rosell risks being summoned by a Brazilian court over fraud allegations which carry a maximum penalty of eight years in jail writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The accusations, which Rosell has always denied, date back to his time heading up Nike’s marketing operation in Brazil when he was both a close friend and business associate of disgraced ex-CBF president Ricardo Teixeira.

Five years ago a marketing business named Ailanto, in which Rosell was involved, organised a friendly international between Brazil and Portugal in Brasilia. Ailanto was paid $4m by the state which hosted the game in the Bezerrao stadium.

According to court documents Rosell is alleged to have transferred $400,000 to a personal account in Spainwhile another sum went to Teixeira who fled to Miami a year ago when the heat of an accumulation of scandals grew too hot.

A further $1.7m was transferred later into an account in the name of  Teixeira’s then 11-year-old daughter.

Rosell has also been accusation of forging a contract. However his Brazilian lawyer, Antenor Madruga, dismissed the allegations, describing them as “irresponsible and scandalous.”

Madruga added: “Ailanto was commissioned because it owned the rights to the game – which was a success for everyone.”

Rosell began working with Teixeira, one of the most notorious recipients of illicit payments from FIFA’s former marketing partner ISL, when Nike took over as main sponsor of five-times World Cup-winners.

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