José Hawilla (11 July 1943 – 25 May 2018) was a Brazilian businessman, the owner and founder of

Traffic Group Traffic Group is a sports event management company founded in Brazil, headquartered in São Paulo. History Traffic Group holds the television rights to a number of association football matches in the Americas including Copa América, Copa Libe ...

, a multinational

sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades, however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...

. Hawilla was born in São José do Rio Preto to parents of Lebanese origin, in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, and began his career as a sports journalist. In 1980, Hawilla founded the Traffic Group, Brazil’s largest

company. He died in a São Paulo hospital on 25 May 2018 at the age of 74 of respiratory failure. He had been ill with pulmonary hypertension,

fibrosis Fibrosis, also known as fibrotic scarring, is a pathological wound healing in which connective tissue replaces normal parenchymal tissue to the extent that it goes unchecked, leading to considerable tissue remodelling and the formation of perma ...

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alv ...

and

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

2015 FIFA corruption case

Hawilla pleaded guilty on 12 December 2014 to "

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

charges including

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

", in connection with what has become the

2015 FIFA corruption case In 2015, United States federal prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with the Fédération internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach ...

. Hawilla agreed to forfeit $151 million, of which $25 million was paid in December 2014.

In popular culture

Argentine actor

Jean Pierre Noher Jean Pierre Noher (born May 5, 1956) is a French-born Argentine actor. Biography A great-nephew of director Max Ophüls, Noher was born in Paris, in 1956. He relocated to Argentina as a young man, and debuted on Argentine television with a p ...

portrayed Hawilla in the 2020

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

original series '' El Presidente''.

References

1943 births 2018 deaths Brazilian people of Lebanese descent 20th-century Brazilian businesspeople 21st-century Brazilian businesspeople People convicted of mail and wire fraud People convicted of money laundering People convicted of racketeering People from São José do Rio Preto Brazilian sports journalists Respiratory disease deaths in São Paulo (state) Deaths from respiratory failure {{Brazil-business-bio-stub