The greed behind the golden shirts

It is one of the greatest mysteries in modern sport. What exactly happened to the Brazilian striker Ronaldo shortly before the 1998 World Cup final? Millions of TV viewers remember the world's best footballer play atrociously in Brazil's surprise 3-0 defeat to France.

When it was revealed that Ronaldo had a convulsive fit hours before the game, conspiracy theories began to circulate accusing Nike, Brazil's sponsor, of forcing the 21-year-old to play against medical common sense.

Nike was made scapegoat for the defeat. A congressman began campaigning for a parliamentary inquiry to examine if Nike had infringed national sovereignty. Football is that important in Latin America's largest country.

Two years later Brazil were knocked out in the Olympic quarter-finals by a Cameroon team playing with just nine men. It was the final humiliation. The public was so outraged that congress launched an investigation into the state of the national game.

After 14 months of hearings the 1,600-page final report has produced a devastating critique of the men in charge of Brazil's golden yellow shirts. The "beautiful game" has an unexpectedly ugly heart.

"The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is truly a den of crime, revealing disorganisation, anarchy, incompetence and dishonesty," said Senator Alvaro Dias, president of the inquiry.

The report recommends that criminal proceedings begin against 17 people, including the CBF president, Ricardo Teixeira and the former national coach, Wanderley Luxemburgo.

Brazil's football bosses have long been a symbol of authoritarianism and impunity - and one of the last areas of public life to modernise since the dictatorship ended in 1985. The inquiry's success in naming names shows the progress of Brazilian democracy.

Even though Nike's $160 million contract with the CBF was the start of the investigations, the sportswear manufacturer got off scot-free. The real scandal of the Nike affair is what the CBF did with the money.

The chief target is Ricardo Teixeira - hand-picked for the post by his then father-in-law, the FIFA president, Joao Havelange, in 1989.

Teixeira allegedly stole CBF money amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The report also shows how the CBF bought power and influence by paying for political campaigns and by sending five senior judges and their wives to the 1998 World Cup in France ¡ via London, Budapest, Prague, New York and Los Angeles.

The corruption reflects a more general football crisis. Since the investigations started, Brazilian football has gone through its worst phase since it first won the World Cup in 1958. It was beaten by Australia and Honduras - teams to whom it had never lost before. There was even a real fear that Brazil would not qualify for the World Cup.

Juca Kfouri, Brazil's leading sports journalist, said: "I believe that a large part of the recent poor performance of the Brazilian national team is directly related to this scandal. The joy that there used to be does not exist any more, partly because of the weight of the investigations."

It is hoped that the weight of the investigations will force changes in personal and ethical conduct. Either PelΘ or S≤crates is tipped to take over from Teixeira if he steps down.