The Swiss Federal Tribunal judgment dated March 4 dismissed
Del Nero’s appeal and ordered him to pay 18,000 Swiss francs ($19.200) in legal
costs. The full verdict detailing the reasons for the decision will be
published at a later date.
Del Nero’s ban from all soccer expires in 2038, when he will
turn 97. The FIFA ethics committee also fined him 1 million Swiss francs ($1.07
million).
Del Nero was a member of the FIFA executive committee in
2015 and head of the Brazilian soccer federation before being indicted by
American federal prosecutors as part of a sprawling investigation.
He has not been extradited to face charges of racketeering,
wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies linked to commercial deals for
South American soccer competitions.
FIFA banned him for life in 2018 and the Court of
Arbitration for Sport cut the ban on appeal to 20 years.
Del Nero challenged the CAS ruling at the Swiss Federal
Tribunal, which overturns rulings only on limited grounds such as abuse of
legal process.
He is the second former FIFA official from Brazil this year
to lose an appeal in Switzerland. Ricardo Teixeira, who was also indicted in
the American investigation, had his appeal dismissed against a life ban for
bribery.