FIFA honorary president resigns amid bribery allegations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Joao Havelange, the Brazilian who ruled FIFA for more than two decades, has resigned as honorary president of the world governing body after being named as having received bribes, The Independent reported.

The long-awaited reported by FIFA's ethics committee into the scandal involving collapsed marketing partners ISL has named Havelange and two former executive committee members Ricardo Teixeira and Nicolas Leoz as receiving bribes. All three have since resigned from FIFA.

The report by FIFA Adjudicatory Chamber chairman Hans-Joachim Eckert also calls current FIFA president Sepp Blatter's handling of the scandal "clumsy" but says it did not breach ethics rules.

The report states: "Mr Havelange has long held solely an honorary position, which does not qualify him as an 'official' under the code of ethics. Further, Mr Havelange resigned his position as honorary president effective 18.04.2013."

Blatter immediately issued a statement welcoming that he had been cleared of misconduct.