Thursday 26 November 2015 12:27, UK
Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has urged the head of Brazilian football to resign to help the credibility of the sport in the country.
Ronaldo, who retired from playing in 2011, said the arrest of former Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) boss Jose Maria Marin and the criticism of his successor Marco Polo Del Nero had damaged the reputation of football in the only country to win the World Cup five times.
Marin is currently under house arrest in New York as part of the FIFA corruption probe in May, and Del Nero has come under scrutiny in the months since.
On the field, the Brazilian national side were knocked out of the Copa America at the quarter-final stage last June, and have seven points from their first four 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Ronaldo, 39, said: "Results don't come in a tumultuous atmosphere. It's a very tough time for Brazilian football, both administratively and in terms of talent. We have had a difficult time finding talent. The players appeared much more frequently in the past.
"The management of a club or a federation has to be professional, it has to be transparent. A serious institution cannot be involved in fraud or acts of corruption. That is the first step to cleaning up Brazilian football, putting in quality people and demanding that they are transparent.
"I think he (Del Nero) should leave. He has avoided going to games and it appears he is hiding from something."
Del Nero has refused to leave Brazil since May when the FIFA corruption crisis begun.
According to Brazil's constitution, Brazilian citizens cannot be extradited from their homeland to another country.
Del Nero has missed FIFA executive committee meetings in Europe and did not go to Chile for the Copa America.
When questioned about his refusal to leave the country, Del Nero said he was busy running the CBF in Rio de Janeiro. There are no formal accusations against him.
Ronaldo has previously said he would like to take an active role in running Brazilian football, but said on Wednesday that now was not the time for him to get involved.
He said: "I have done a lot in football and I like what I do. But I have no pretentions right now for holding a position in the CBF. My businesses demand a lot of movement.
"The CBF needs to clear up all the doubts that people have. I think the CBF has great potential to do incredible things in football. It's a waste that things have not been done correctly.
"We need to rethink how we rebuild football as a whole, administratively and on the field."
Ronaldo, who played for Barcelona, Real Madrid and both Milan clubs in his career, helped his country win the World Cup in 2002 and scored 62 goals in 98 games for his country.
