Dominguez elected Conmebol president

Sports Tuesday 26/January/2016 19:32 PM
By: Times News Service
Dominguez elected Conmebol president

Asuncion: Paraguayan Alejandro Dominguez was unanimously elected president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) on Tuesday after his only rival withdrew his candidacy.
Dominguez received all 10 votes and takes over from interim president Wilmar Valdez, who replaced Juan Angel Napout in December after he was arrested in Zurich.
Valdez withdrew his candidacy after failing to get enough support.
Dominguez, 44, was also elected a FIFA vice president and Argentine Luis Segura was elected as CONMEBOL's representative on FIFA's Executive Committee.
"The big commitment is to restore CONMEBOL's credibility," Dominguez told reporters. "We want to get back to the essence of football, it's values and fair play.
"It's an honour and a great responsibility that all these countries have confirmed their confidence (in me)," added Dominguez, who was Napout's deputy at the Paraguayan Football Association for seven years.
Three of CONMEBOL's last four elected presidents have come from landlocked Paraguay and Dominguez will seek to bring stability to the organisation after months of turmoil involving arrests and resignations.
South America is home to both Brazil and Argentina, who have won the World Cup seven times between them and produced great players such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
But the Americas has also been the main focus of the investigation by United States and Swiss prosecutors into schemes designed to receive millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to sell media and marketing rights for soccer tournaments and matches.
Officials from all 10 members of CONMEBOL have been indicted and the last three presidents of both CONMEBOL and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football region have also been detained.
Before Napout was arrested in December, Nicolas Leoz, who ran the organisation from 1986 until 2013, was detained last May, as was his successor Enrique Figueiredo.
The Paraguayan parliament last year stripped CONMEBOL headquarters of its diplomatic status and its offices were raided by Paraguayan police in January after U.S. officials asked for help in their investigations.
Bribery is only a crime in Paraguay if government officials are involved.