Profiles: Fifa accused

Three senior officials at football's world governing body, Fifa, have been accused of corruption by the BBC's Panorama programme.

Nicolas Leoz, Issa Hayatou and Ricardo Teixeira are alleged to have taken bribes from a marketing company in the 1990s.

In addition, Jack Warner is accused of trying to procure $84,000 (£54,000) worth of 2010 World Cup tickets to sell on the black market.

The four men are part of a 22-man panel which will vote on Thursday on where to stage the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.

Nicolas Leoz

Nicolas Leoz (R) has a football stadium named after him

President of South America's football federation, Conmebol, Mr Leoz is a long-time official in the highest ranks of Fifa.

The 82-year-old Paraguayan, the oldest of the panel of 22 due to decide who will host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022, has been a member of Fifa's executive since 1998.

A lawyer by profession, his profile on Fifa's website also describes him as a sports journalist, part-time history professor and landowner.

He says his favourite football match of all time was Argentina's 2-1 defeat of England during the 1986 World Cup.

He rose to prominence in football administration as president of Paraguayan Club Libertad during the 1970s.

The team, from the Tuyucua neighbourhood of the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, plays at the Dr Nicolas Leoz stadium.

Mr Leoz is known as a staunch ally of Fifa President Sepp Blatter.

Issa Hayatou

Issa Hayatou has made controversial decisions in African football

The 64-year-old Cameroonian has been president of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) since 1988.

He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, and helped organise the 2008 Beijing Games.

During the 1960s he was Cameroon's national 400m and 800m champion and competed in the first African Games in Brazzaville in 1965, according to his biography on the Olympics website.

He also spent time working as a PE teacher.

Involved in sports administration from the early 1970s, he was secretary general of the Cameroon Football Association by the age of 28.

His decades at the helm of African football have not been without controversy.

He received strong criticism earlier this year after the Caf decided to ban Togo from the African Cup of Nations; Togo were being punished for choosing to leave the tournament after a fatal gun attack on their team bus.

Ricardo Teixeira

Ricardo Teixeira is known as a political survivor

Ricardo Teixeira, 63, has been president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for more than two decades.

He has the final say on hiring and firing national team coaches, who in are responsible for pleasing the world's most demanding fans.

A political survivor, he was elected head of the CBF for another seven-year term in 2007 with 43 out of 47 votes.

He is also head of the organising committee for the 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil.

Mr Texeira was married to Lucia Havelange, daughter of former Fifa president Joao Havelange, for almost 30 years until their divorce in 1997.

Jack Warner

Jack Warner sits as an MP and minister in Trinidad, as well as heading Concacaf

The 67-year-old is known as a colourful character, famous for his outspoken comments.

A lecturer in history by trade, he has been president of the Concacaf - the body covering football in Central and North America and the Caribbean - since 1990.

He also plays a prominent role in the government of Trinidad and Tobago as a sitting MP and minister for works and transport.

On his official website, he describes Trinidad & Tobago's qualification for the 2006 World Cup as his "salvation".

The website describes his biography, Zero to Hero, as the story of a man who "almost single-handedly willed and inspired a tiny nation to also achieve pride of place among the football playing nations of the world".

But he has long been a controversial figure. Mr Warner has been embroiled in legal cases lodged by the players who represented Trinidad at the World Cup who claim they were never paid the bonuses he promised them.

Panorama: Fifa's Dirty Secrets was broadcast on BBC One on Monday, 29 November and available to watch in the UK on the BBC iPlayer until Thursday 9 December.