Brazil’s Teixeira under fire from Pele, Blatter

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 29 (Reuters) – Pele continued his  long-running feud with Ricardo Teixeira when he was unveiled on  Friday as the face of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup after the  Brazilian FA chief had snubbed him ahead of Saturday’s draw for  the qualifying competition.
Teixeira did not invite him to the draw, the first major  milestone on the way to the World Cup finals, but Pele will be  there anyway after Brazil President Dilma Rousseff appointed him  as the country’s international World Cup ambassador this week.
Pele, 70, said: “You only go to a party if you are invited.  If I wasn’t invited, it’s logical I wouldn’t go.  He is  president of the federation…he decides who to invite or not…  If he doesn’t invite me, I don’t go.
“I don’t think this controversy is good for Brazil,” Pele  added.
“Unfortunately people say more than they know… There’s  always some confusion or misunderstanding when he (Teixeira)  replies or gives an interview.
“I hope from now on we can clear everything up and we can  work properly for the World Cup.”
The animosity between Pele, widely regarded as the world’s  greatest player, and Teixeira has its roots in the early 1990s  when Pele was critical of Teixeira’s then father-in-law Joao  Havelange, president of FIFA at the time.
Havelange snubbed Pele by not inviting him when the draw for  the 1994 World Cup finals was made in Las Vegas in late 1993 but  with history appearing to repeat itself current FIFA head Sepp  Blatter has stepped in as a possible peacemaker.
Blatter is planning to meet the outspoken Teixeira,  president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), over  remarks he has made against England and for snubbing Pele.
Teixeira, 64, a FIFA executive committee member who has been  surrounded by controversy for years, recently accused the  English of being “pirates” saying they “could go to hell.”
On Friday he refused to talk to English journalists, calling  them “corrupt” after a media scuffle involving his entourage  following a news conference.
Blatter told reporters that Teixeira’s criticism of England  was not good for FIFA’s image.
Blatter said: “Sure I will speak to him but I have already  said once, I’m not the man who is responsible for the moral or  ethical approach of the members of FIFA or the members of the  executive committee. I’m not their conscience.”
Blatter added: “It is his responsibility, what he is doing.  I am not so sure that all of that is in my spirit of fair play.”
Teixeira is upset with the English after David Triesman, the  former head of the English FA, accused him in a Parliamentary  inquiry of asking for a bribe in return for his vote for  England’s bid to stage the 2018 World Cup finals.