São Paulo board clears Pinotti, leaves December election picture unclear | OneFootball

São Paulo’s political landscape for the presidential elections at the end of the year has become muddled again after the club’s Deliberative Council cleared one of the potential candidates, former football director Vinícius Pinotti, of the suspension recommended by the ethics committee for having bought and leaked the audio recordings that led to the so-called Luxury Box Scandal, in which two former Tricolor directors were caught negotiating the rental of an exclusive club space at Morumbi Stadium for Colombian singer Shakira’s concert in February last year.

Pinotti was tried alongside Fábio Mariz, in what was ironically referred to in Morumbi’s corridors as the first round of the elections.

Both could have been suspended for one year, according to the penalty proposed by the ethics committee, which would have made Pinotti’s candidacy impossible. Back in the race, the former executive now faces a scenario in which current president Harry Massis Júnior is gaining strength among pro-administration groups to run for re-election, while his name is also gaining traction among opposition ranks.

Pinotti was acquitted by 175 votes to 48, with four abstentions. Mariz, meanwhile, received 175 votes in favor of acquittal, against 47 for punishment, with five abstentions.

The request for the Ethics Committee to assess the pair’s conduct was made by Douglas Schwartzmann, former youth academy director, who appears in the recordings alongside Mara Casares, former social director. On Monday (3/30), the two were recommended for expulsion from the club’s membership. The Deliberative Council will vote on the matter next Wednesday (8).

The Ethics Committee’s final opinion was signed by rapporteur Antônio Patiño Zorz and approved unanimously. It recommends a 300-day suspension for Pinotti and 360 days for Mariz. The ruling states that there was a violation of institutional duties and damage to the club’s image stemming from the way the recordings were obtained and disclosed.

Back in January, the third person investigated by police in the case leaked conversations to journalists in which she appears offering to sell the recording of the conversation with Douglas and Mara to the two accused men. Pinotti admitted he provided the money to buy it and handed the content to the ‘Globo Esporte’ portal, confessing that the goal was to “leak all that dirt.”

THE COMMITTEE’S DECISION

According to the document, it was established that the council members acted in coordination with third parties to obtain the material, in addition to discussing strategies for selectively disclosing the content to the press.

The committee concluded that the conduct went beyond the bounds of a legitimate complaint and caused institutional harm to São Paulo.

The report also highlights that, even in the face of suspicions of irregularities, the council members should have turned to the club’s internal channels, such as compliance mechanisms and disciplinary bodies, before exposing the case publicly.

For the committee, the choice to leak the material contributed to deepening the crisis and causing further damage to the club’s reputation.

In the body’s view, the conduct qualifies as an infraction for causing damage to the club’s image, with aggravating factors such as joint action and the case’s public impact. The decision also distinguishes the roles of the two council members, assigning greater gravity to Fábio Mariz’s conduct, as he was identified as a direct participant in meetings and coordination related to the material.

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