The controversial timepieces worth £768,000 collectively – £16,000 a piece – which were given to top football officials by the Brazilian FA prior to the 2014 World Cup have been contributed to charity following an investigation by FIFA.
Following the World Cup last year, and as part of the on-going investigations into corruption, the governing body ordered all the recipients of the luxury watches to hand them back due to the fact that they were considered to be ‘unauthorised gifts’ according to FIFA’s code of ethics.
Originally there were 65 watches that had been given away, but so far only 48 have been returned. The watches given back have now been passed on to the charity streetfootballworld in the hope that the gesture will ensure some good comes out of the damning episode for world football.
In a statement today, they said: “All the watches returned to FIFA will now be donated to the international non-profit organisation streetfootballworld, who will directly invest all resources generated through the sale of the watches into initiatives across Brazil that use football to drive social change. The investigatory chamber of the ethics committee considers the matter to be closed.”
If you would like to acquire an equally luxurious timepiece, perhaps from the antique pocket watches catalogue we offer, as opposed to those shrouded in corruption, why not take a look and see what takes your fancy?
Image: EA Sportsunder Creative Commons.
