SAFIEL idealiser details non-binding bid, Corinthians election impact | OneFootball

During the late afternoon and early evening of last Saturday (27), the creators of SAFIEL, whose proposal is to transform Corinthians into a Football Corporation — raising at least R$ 2.5 billion — through the sale of shares to supporters, held an event attended by influencers and journalists aimed at boosting the project’s petition.

During the press interview, one of the creators, Carlos Teixeira, answered questions on several topics, including the importance of signing the non-binding proposal, the next signature goals for the petition (SAFIEL Now), the impact of the club’s elections on the project in question, and the search for contacts with people inside Parque São Jorge.

Photo: Reproduction/Central do Timão

Check out Carlos Teixeira’s answers to the press below:

Signing of the non-binding proposal

“The non-binding proposal allows the project to be developed. We, as its creators, refined the project over the course of a year of debate with the fans, the market, and lawyers. We made the project as close to perfect as possible from both a legal standpoint and the supporters’ standpoint. It has now reached a point where, for it to move forward, Corinthians needs to be at the table with us. The contracts need to be drafted, due diligence needs to be carried out, the funds need to be structured so the shares can be distributed to supporters, and none of that can be done if Corinthians is not at the table.”

What sets SAFIEL apart from other SAF models

“SAFIEL is not a SAF with a single owner; it is a SAF of the Corinthians supporters, a SAF that will belong to the Corinthians community. Every Corinthians supporter will be able to be a shareholder, and no supporter will be able to hold relevant control of the SAF, meaning power will be spread among all Corinthians supporters.”

SAFIEL Now signature goal

“We will wrap up the campaign in 30 days. It will reach 30 days on July 9. We have just completed 15 days of campaigning. From the moment we, as the creators, deliver the 100,000 signatures and deliver the check under the conditions already set out in the non-binding proposal, we understand that there is absolutely nothing else left for us to do on our side.”

Advance funding depends on guarantees and partners working together on the project

“An advance capital injection into Corinthians depends first on guarantees. What guarantees does Corinthians have to offer in exchange for advance funding? From there, the conditions are defined, the rates are defined and, again, it will obviously depend on us and Corinthians being at the same table, designing and building together these issues that are still open.”

“We have very solid banks working with us on the project, but they only want to come in once Corinthians is at the table as well. Many people, supporters who want to invest, do not necessarily want to reveal their names. People have their private lives. (…) I can clearly say that Eduardo and I, for example, Maurício, and a good part of the creators, will be part of this advance funding. But many other people who have signaled interest to us do not want their names revealed until this is made official.”

Message to the supporters

“The time has come for everyone to stand up and make their voice heard about the future of Corinthians. No one can remain silent at this moment. Remaining silent means voting for or taking a position in favor of what is there now. (…) The biggest risk is doing nothing. Today Corinthians has negative equity; if we sold everything we own, we would still owe 700 million. SAFIEL will clean up the club financially, and the club will not suffer asset losses with the SAF. SAFIEL will take on the debts, professionalize football, separate association politics from football management, and pay royalties to the social club.”

SAFIEL proposal being used as a political campaign issue in the end-of-year elections

“Of course the election itself creates more political instability, the groups become more divided, the people there change positions and reorganize politically in other ways. The fact is that with each passing month, the cost of our debt increases or costs us approximately 50 million reais, around that. So, from now until the election, we have July, August, September, October, November — we are talking about a cost of 250 million for waiting five months. We have said that SAFIEL is a project for Corinthians, not for any political group. That is why we insist on saying that we will not support any group, because this is a project for Corinthians, not a project for any political group.”

“I think that, regardless of the election, Corinthians already has an ultimatum on the table — a financial ultimatum, a political ultimatum, an institutional ultimatum. It has the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it has Financial Fair Play, it needs to sell a large part of the team to pay salaries still this year, it has a sporting calendar for the second half of the year, it has an entire half-season to play with a theoretically weaker team. So, in our opinion, there is already an ultimatum on President (Osmar) Stabile’s table to resolve. There would be no time to postpone all these issues.”

“It is a moment for unity. Who knows whether the end of this campaign and the recognition of this financial, sporting, institutional, and political ultimatum may not combine into a set of factors that mobilize the club to move the proposal forward, given the fact that there is no other alternative on the table. There comes a time when you no longer have players to sell, a time when you no longer have revenue to bring forward, when you can no longer borrow from the bank, and Corinthians is very close to that situation, if it is not already there.”

“If we place SAFIEL within Corinthians’ electoral debate — and I think that is inevitable, it will happen — all candidates will be asked about SAFIEL, their position on it, etc. That reality is already here; SAFIEL is part of the electoral debate. I think one of the great services SAFIEL is already providing to Corinthians, regardless of whether we have the proposal signed or not, is that there is already a project on the table. So if someone says, ‘Look, I do not want to go down the path of this project,’ that person will necessarily have to present something as good as it or better. To me, that is already a spectacular service that SAFIEL brings to all Corinthians supporters and all members.”

SAFIEL has opened debate on management alternatives for Corinthians

“We introduced a kind of new element that did not exist on the political board and that cannot simply be discarded unless something better is put forward as an alternative. Because the supporter no longer buys this story of ‘three more administrations,’ of ‘five years from now.’ I think that if someone wants to present that kind of speech and does not bring a spreadsheet, a projection, a well-grounded project, they will not succeed and, on the basis of rhetoric alone, simply speaking there, have credibility face to face with a project that shows how it will be done.”

Frequent attempts to hold talks at Parque São Jorge

“Let’s see how the politics in there unfold. Let’s see whether President Osmar, who told Kascão that he would sign it if it were up to him, but wants to seek the support of Cori and the Council. We will also help the president get that support; I think that is something we can do, and we are already doing it. In our opinion, the dialogue has been very good. We held a meeting with Cori; the president, Dr. Miguel Marques, was at that meeting, as were other Cori members. With the Council, we had already been speaking with (Romeu) Tuma before, and we started speaking with Pantaleão — very good conversations. With Stabile as well, the conversations have also been very good.”

“I think we are a thousand signatures away from reaching 70,000, and two thousand of those signatures are already from members. Organized groups of members from Parque São Jorge are already reaching out to us. We are indeed seeing interest from members, especially the more organized ones now, in sitting down with us and clearing up their last doubts, and it is growing. I have absolutely no doubt that the grassroots work is generating a lot of results among the members as well. This debate within the club has already begun, but through groups of members who seek us out. The institutional debate is on the way. We have received, so to speak, promises to present the project to the Deliberative Council, just as we received the promise to present it to Cori, and we did. So again, it is grassroots work. It is evolving, yes.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.