Casares on São Paulo’s transparency delay and Belmonte row | OneFootball

Kicking off the ‘transparency process’ that he has instituted in recent days, São Paulo president Julio Casares held a press conference on the morning of this Tuesday (14) at the club’s training center, where he addressed various controversial topics surrounding Tricolor in this tumultuous year.

Right off the bat, Casares justified the delay in opening up within São Paulo, explaining that it was a course correction made within the club, which realized that if it wanted to demand transparency from the CBF regarding the refereeing in the last derby, it would have to do the same internally.

“I believe that in life we have to make some course corrections. I, when I questioned and worked together with the president of the CBF, with the head of refereeing about transparency, I had to look at myself as well, so you have to open up as much as possible. We had already discussed opening up to the press, at least for a period during the week or every 15 days, allowing their presence here at the training center,” explained the president.

“So, I think this was a matter of a course correction. I always think it’s important to reflect on the topic. If I am demanding transparency from an entity, I have to look at my own institution,” he concluded.

According to the president, this was the real reason for this openness at Tricolor, which had nothing to do with the recent protests from São Paulo fans, which Julio Casares saw as normal.

“As for the protest, I believe that all the presidents of Série A and Série B have gone through this. I think it’s normal. I think the fan has the right to criticize, as long as it’s peaceful and proper. It’s normal. It’s a democratic world. I see this calmly. I see people who did this and saved clubs through SAF, who were phenomenal players in the world and faced similar protests. This is part of football culture and I accept it very naturally,” said the São Paulo president.

DISAGREEMENTS WITH BELMONTE

The president was also questioned about the turbulent relationship with football director Carlos Belmonte, but assured that he is a professional who knows how to work with disagreements.

“There is, in the world, and I am from this world, not from the younger, digital world, but I am from the world that knows how to work with disagreement. I was born in São Paulo with extreme disagreement. Imagine a president who came from the East Zone, a president who is not related to a board member, not a nephew, not a grandson, not a son, becoming president of the club. Imagine how many problems I had along the way, issues—I don’t call it friendly fire—of interpretations, of statements, because before the friendly fire maybe you also shot at someone else.”

“It’s part of the life of a football club. A football club is different from a company. I was an executive at SBT and Record. But in football you have emotion, you have fans. It’s different. You fight for ratings, you score a goal in the ratings, but you don’t have a crowd shouting the name of the broadcaster. So this is a characteristic of a football club.”

“Carlos Belmonte, who is here, has been a director since the beginning of this administration. We went through eliminations against Água Santa, the loss of a South American title, and nothing changed. In fact, our management has only made specific changes. Now, in life, anything can happen. What prevails is good dialogue, eye-to-eye, conversation; we had meetings yesterday to discuss other matters, we travel together.”

However, Casares said he cannot guarantee future matters regarding his board. But for now, he has endorsed Belmonte’s continuation in the club’s position.

“Now, I can’t guarantee, suddenly, anything. I’m not going to guarantee something that depends on other variables. What I guarantee is the reality of loyalty, conviction, straightforward conversation, and that’s what I have with my executives. And if Carlos Belmonte has been here for almost five years, it’s because, win or lose, the work continues, because he leads an area that includes Rui Costa, who is a professional. Many people say São Paulo is not professional, but Rui Costa is a professional, executive director, Muricy is a coordinator, professional, executive director, and the other assistants.”

“So this issue of disagreement, of dismissal, etc. The day there is a dismissal, I would have to do it, I would have to say it, but there is not even a reason for that. So these issues, in my view, although relevant, come more from outside the club than from within,” concluded Julio Casares.

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