Romario and Bebeto elected to parliament in Brazil

FORMER Brazil international strikers Romario and Bebeto were both elected to parliament in elections this weekend.

Romario takes part in a campaign rally at the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro in August. Picture: Getty

Romario - an existing deputy in the lowert house - was elected Senator for Rio de Janeiro, with 63 per cent of the vote, while Bebeto, his striking partner when A Seleção won the 1994 World Cup, was re-elected as a state deputy.

Andres Sanchez, the former president of Sao Paulo-based football club Corinthians, was elected to the lower house for the Workers’ Party.

Romario, who scored 55 goals in 70 international appearances, was the sixth most-voted candidate for deputy in Rio de Janeiro in the 2010 general election.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket, and was a voiced his opposition to the World Cup being held in Brazil in 2014, telling Globo.com the tournament was ‘immersed in corruption’.

Bebeto - famously knocked back by St Mirren at the age of 37 due to fitness concerns - joined the Management Board of the Local Organising Committee for Brazil’s World Cup in February 2012, where he teamed up with another Brazilian legend, Ronaldo, and is a sitting member of the legislative assembly’s Special Committee Promoting the Legacy of the Sporting Events of 2014 and 2016.

The country is due to host the Olympics in two years time.