Belmonte eyes São Paulo presidency: "I'm ready for the challenge" | OneFootball

Almost in the final hours of Friday (29), when he officially announced his departure from the position of football director at São Paulo, Carlos Belmonte used his social media to release a statement saying that the decision was made, in part, “to spend more time with family.”

However, hours earlier, the director had already revealed that one of his biggest dreams for the future goes beyond family life.

A desire known even by the walls of Morumbi: to run for the succession of Julio Casares in the club's presidency in the elections scheduled for the end of next year.

“I am free to talk to people and show my work. I have something to show and I will prepare for the new battle,” said Belmonte in a loud and clear tone to journalist Luís Augusto Símon's blog, Menon, on the ‘Fórum‘ portal.

For this, he relies on his political group, the Legião: “We are 50 and we are very united, together for a long time,” he added.

One of the topics the group is united on is the creation of the Cotia Investment Fund (FIP), which was approved by the Board of Directors in August but has not yet been submitted to the Deliberative Council.

Internally, there is certainty that this has not happened due to the high chance of the project being rejected, due to strong opposition to the disclosed terms. And Belmonte and the Legião's stance aligns with this view.

“We are against it. The opposition has 55 votes and is also against it. With 20 more votes, the project won't pass,” he explained. Today, the Council has 255 members, and the project needs a simple majority to be approved. The lack of support from Belmonte and his allies for the project is pointed out by sources consulted by the report as the trigger for the rupture between the former football director and the president.

In truth, the friction had been building since the end of last year, when the then football director disagreed with the department's budget cuts through the FIDC and complained that he was not consulted. Seeing the club's main department accumulate losses due to high costs and not securing sports achievements, Casares sidelined the then ally from being the candidate for the situation in the elections.

The repercussions of Belmonte's departure from Casares's management are expected to be intense. There is an expectation that the Legião might support the resignation request submitted to Casares by a group of councilors, as revealed by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR.

This rapprochement with the opposition could be expanded, including the construction of an alliance for next year's elections.

Belmonte did not confirm this detail but suggested its feasibility with extreme frankness. “I can only say that I am a person who has never disrespected someone from the opposition. Never,” he added.

Besides Belmonte, the São Paulo football department is also losing deputies Nelson Marques Ferreira, known as Nelsinho, and Fernando Bracalle Ambrogi, known as Chapecó. In an official statement, the Morumbi club informed that executive Rui Costa and coordinator Muricy Ramalho remain in charge of football “and organizing the planning for 2026.”

We have previously revealed here that at the moment of the club's greatest internal crisis, after being eliminated from the Copa Libertadores and failing to secure a series of victories in the Brazilian Championship, Casares was heavily pressured by allies for changes to occur in Barra Funda. And here it can be read that the main one was Belmonte's departure.

However, there are two problems. The first, more obvious one, Casares did not want to strengthen opposition ranks by dismissing the football director who was once his great ally. The other, more practical one, is the absence of a name to replace him without causing more friction to his support base. Professional football is São Paulo's flagship. It is the most prestigious position. And the chosen one would be seen as an obvious indicator of the leader's choice for his succession.

The solution, then, for the indecisive president, who does not want to displease either Greeks or Trojans, would be to appoint Costa, an outsider professional, which would also help convey a more professional air to his farewell from the leadership chair, essential to slightly clean up the tarnished image this year when he was insulted in the stands.

Besides that, it would have a, let's say, lesser impact. Yes, Belmonte may be insulted by fans (and even directors), but he gained status in the five years in office, being respected by players, businessmen, and even rival directors. Broadly speaking, Costa's appointment would represent continuity.

On the other hand, Carlomagno's entry into the daily life of the CT had exactly this bias of increasing loyalty in Barra Funda, a terrain that became more treacherous for the ‘staunch Casares supporters,’ with Belmonte increasingly distanced from the president. But the plan backfired. The superintendent was asked to arrive kicking the door. But he found an environment controlled by Belmonte. And surrounded by people who became loyal to the director. From implicit rivalry, complicity between the two emerged. And the internal announcement came that his plans do not include being a candidate for succession.

The report has previously revealed that Casares and Belmonte have not been on the same page for about three months, since Belmonte was insulted by a club director in a message leaked through an app. Despite the air of complicity that Casares tried to convey in a press conference at the Barra Funda CT, things have only gotten more complicated since then, after the football director became certain that he will not be the nominee to run for the president's succession at the end of next year. And emphasized that his political group is against the investment fund and participation (FIP) project for the youth categories in Cotia.

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