Trouble for Corinthians

The ill-fated partnership between Brazilian defending champions, Corinthians, and investment fund MSI seems close to an end. This month the club had to pay debts and salaries that should have been paid by its partner, only adding to the series of behind-the-scenes fighting regarding the club's soccer team, something that has been going on since the partnership was created. With the brief exception of the 2005 National title, club and partner have never seemed to agree how to handle the extremely popular team based in Sao Paulo. With the recent poor results that see the team in last place in the Brazilian Serie A, the fight only became more open. Now, even fan favourite Carlos Tevez - who played for Argentina in the 2006 World Cup - is threatening to jump ship, after being criticized in the team's last game, a 2-2 tie at home against fellow relegation candidates Fortaleza.