Behind the scenes: Massis names Rafinha and ex-Leco director ousted by Cueva | OneFootball

Now officially confirmed as the president of São Paulo after the resignation of Julio Casares, Harry Massis Júnior has been discussing names to fill positions that are already vacant or will become vacant in the coming days, with the departure of former allies of the ex-leader.

A new face is already confirmed behind the scenes. Toninho Paiva, a name that has been part of Massis's political group for some time, will be the new social director replacing Antônio Donizeti, known as Dedé, who confirmed his departure hours after Casares's resignation letter was published on social media.

Paiva is expected to be officially announced later this afternoon when Massis will meet with journalists at the Barra Funda training center to share his plans for the management. AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR could not register due to São Paulo's clauses for independent segmented media outlets.

But what truly interests the fans is football, especially the professional team, which is currently under the sole control of executive Rui Costa.

As the report found, Massis emphasized to Casares's opposition, with whom he has been maintaining an open dialogue in recent days, something unthinkable with the predecessor, that the professional is not at risk of dismissal.

In the little interaction he had with Costa when he was just the vice president, the now leader grew fond of him. The executive is described as polite and capable. Besides that, as reported to AMT by two sources, Massis feels that Casares left him exposed when he left him isolated in Barra Funda to take care of the club's most important department.

The new names that arrive will work alongside Costa, not replace him.

And one of the names considered by Massis is the now-retired Rafinha. The former right-back and captain of Tricolor still maintains leadership over the squad and advises and talks with the players. The former number 13 never left the players' and even São Paulo staff's messaging groups.

Rafinha would come to work daily, in a kind of coordinator role, a position held by Muricy Ramalho, who has been away from duties since December due to health issues. The expectation, at least as he confided to close people, is that the former coach will leave the club as soon as he recovers.

The message given by Massis to Mujica's family is that no one will fire him at São Paulo and that he has all the time necessary for rehabilitation. This leads to the understanding that Rafinha's arrival does not depend on Muricy's departure, as speculated.

No proposal has been made to the former player so far.

It's not a new idea. At the end of the first half of 2025, when the club was experiencing a crisis of poor results that would eventually lead to the dismissal of Luis Zubeldía, then football director Carlos Belmonte officially invited Rafinha to work daily at the training center. However, the former right-back, despite his immense interest, could not accept because he had an ongoing contract with a TV to comment on the Club World Cup.

For the position of Márcio Carlomagno, who also had his dismissal announced after Casares's resignation, Massis intends to invite Luiz Cunha. The information comes from his friend Ramoni Artico, from ‘São Paulo Digital‘.

He is not an unknown name. The successful businessman currently living in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) has already held management positions at São Paulo. With Carlos Miguel Aidar, he was the director of the youth academy and club departments. With Carlos Augusto Barros e Silva, known as Leco, he reached professional football, where he had already been an assistant in the administrations of Marcelo Portugal Gouvêa and Juvenal Juvêncio.

Despite being highly praised by the then president, Cunha lasted just over five months in the position. He clashed with then-executive Gustavo Sampaio, accusing him of reporting directly to Leco. The last straw was the signing of Peruvian Cueva, made by Sampaio without his consent and supported by the leader.

Out of São Paulo's politics since then, Cunha is seen as a name capable of pleasing 'Greeks and Trojans' and at least calming and shielding football from the politics and the upcoming electoral process. This is due to his participation in various administrations and political groups within the club.

Massis himself is an example of this. In 2016, the current president was an opponent of Leco, and his political group at the time released a manifesto supporting Cunha and opposing the signing of Cueva.

Luiz Cunha during his time as football director in 2016 (Disclosure)

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