Brazilian Police Make Arrests in 2014 World Cup Corruption Probe
May 24, 2017
Brazilian police have arrested a presidential aide and two ex-governors as part of an investigation into the 2014 World Cup’s most expensive stadium in the capital, Brasilia.
The development added to the pressure on President Michel Temer as the long-running focus of the corruption scandal in public life turned back on to the twin sporting stagings of the World Cup and Olympic Games.
Brasilia, with a capacity of 72,800, staged matches in both events.
A police statement said that Tadeu Filippelli, a special adviser in Temer’s Cabinet, and former Federal District governors José Roberto Arruda and Agnelo Queiroz had been detained.
Renovation of the Brasilia stadium for the 2014 World Cup cost $459.38m which, according to prosecutors and police, included significant excessive charges. This was then considered the second-most expensive football ground in the world after the reconstruction of Wembley.
