SAO PAULO: Marco Polo Del Nero has finally accepted the inevitable that he must quit, ignominously, the executive committee of world football federation FIFA writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Del Nero fled for home from Zurich on May 27 after his predecessor as CBF president, Jose Maria Marin, was among seven men detained on an indictment issued by the United States Department of Justice over the FIFAGate scandal.

As a Brazilian citizen Del Nero, who was not named in the original US indictment, is safe from extradition as long as he does travel beyond his home country.

Hence he has not attended the last three FIFA exco meetings and will not be present for the imminent emergency meeting under the interim leadership of Issa Hayatou to discuss events since the ethics committee suspensions of president Sepp Blatter and UEFA leader Michel Platini.

He did not even travel to Chile for the Copa America this past June and July or to the same country again for Brazil’s recent World Cup qualifying tie.

Juan Angel Napout, president of the South American confederation, is understood to have told the head of the Brazilian federation that he had to go because his absence was detrimental to the interests of CONMEBOL in particular and South American football in general.

CONMEBOL will choose his replacement at its next meeting late next month in Rio de Janeiro.

Wilmar Valdez, president of the Uruguayan federation, is understood to be keen to step up though this would leave Brazil without a representative in the government of the world game for the first time in more than 40 years.

Del Nero is also a member of the beach soccer committee and the organising committees of the World Cup, the Club World Cup and the Olympic football tournament.

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