Board demand answers on Casares' son and agent partnership | OneFootball

A group of 29 advisors from São Paulo filed a request on Monday (15) to the club's executive director of ESG, risks and compliance, Roberto Soares Armelin, asking for an analysis of a possible conflict of interest involving president Júlio Casares. The request is based on the business connection between the president's son, Júlio César Casares Filho, and player agent Aref Abdullatif. The information was initially published by TRICOLOR NOTES (learn more about the work by clicking here).

The document mentions the Tricolor Integrity Program, launched in February 2021 as a priority of the Casares administration, with the promise of implementing compliance rules and strengthening transparency as a principle of conduct. In light of this, the advisors question whether the business relationship could compromise these commitments.

According to the request, “considering the news disclosure, proven by documents obtained from the São Paulo State Commercial Registry, of the partnership involving Mr. Aref Abdullatif, a football player agent, and Mr. Júlio César Casares Filho, son of the president of São Paulo Football Club, in the company Dospets Comércio e Serviços para Animais Ltda., since December 5, 2019, which, at least in theory, could constitute a conflict of interest”, it would be up to compliance to evaluate the case.

Aref Abdullatif is the sole partner of Kah Esportes e Entretenimento Ltda., a company that, at the beginning of the Casares administration in 2021, represented only one player. Since then, according to the document, 21 athletes from the Tricolor youth categories would have passed through the company, although some of them have already left the club: Maioli, Gabriel Tchelin, Gui Lanza, Davi Jesus, Jorginho, Davi Stenio, Biel, Pedro Ícaro, Fernandinho, Jorginho Albuquerque, Murillo Concimo, Miguel Bernardo, Netin Alves, Davi Fraga, Pedro Simões, Miguel Francelino, Fernandinho Cabral, Felipe Silva, Daniel, Arthur Freitas, Dudu Vória and Pietro Tubarão. In the request, the advisors listed all the players represented by the company.

The group wants clarification on three points: whether there are specific rules about conflicts of interest between leaders and relatives, whether the case fits these situations and, if so, what the penalties are.

The connection between Casares Filho and Abdullatif had already been revealed by 'UOL' in July 2023. The portal showed that the two are partners in Dospets Comércio, a company aimed at the pet market. At the time, both the businessman and the president's son claimed there were no benefits in the partnership. In a statement, São Paulo said that the partnership had been established before Casares took office and that it was "on hold since he was elected president", although the company's registration was still active in the Federal Revenue — at least until last month, it was still active.

The text also revealed that Kah Sports received R$ 208,000 in commissions from São Paulo in the previous season, a value linked to the signing of athletes. One of the main players represented by the company was the forward Maioli, who had recently renewed his contract, but in 2024 was sold to APOEL, from Cyprus. The company refuted any suspicion, claiming that its contracts are signed in an honest manner and that it was "far from being the company with the most players in São Paulo".

According to close sources, Casares Filho would have said he was unaware that Aref was involved in player representation when they partnered. At least at that time, in addition to participating in negotiations, the businessman was present in the day-to-day operations of the club's youth categories and also represented goalkeeper Felipe Alves, signed in 2022.

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