Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay officially took over as the president of the governing body of South American football on Tuesday, replacing Nicolas Leoz who resigned last week citing declining health.
Figueredo, 81, was previously CONMEBOL's vice president but had been working in the post since Leoz's resignation. CONMEBOL said Tuesday he would serve until 2015.
Leoz, who has undergone several rounds of heart surgery, had been CONMEBOL's president since 1986 and a member of FIFA's executive committee since 1998. He also resigned that position last week.
The official handover in South America came the same day that a FIFA ethics court judge ruled in Switzerland that Leoz - along with former FIFA President Joao Havelange and his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira - accepted bribes from the sport's marketing company ISL from 1992-2000.
The 84-year-old Leoz, who has been hospitalized since Monday, attended what amounted to a going-away ceremony.
CONMEBOL said Figueredo would become a member of the FIFA executive committee, subject to confirmation by FIFA.
