Corinthians confirm place, get details of Rio Grande do Sul U16 cup | OneFootball

On Tuesday (8), Corinthians learned its opponents and the details of the Copa Gramado Laghetto, an Under-16 competition held annually at the Eduardo Tissot Olympic Village in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul. This year, the tournament will be held for the sixth time.

The Filhos do Terrão, coached by Douglas Pilar, are in Group B alongside Flamengo, Fortaleza, Internacional, and Juventude. The other group consists of Atlético-MG, Bahia, Centro Esportivo Gramadense, Grêmio, and Santos.

Photo: Disclosure/Gramado City Hall

Corinthians will play its first match against Internacional on October 16, a Friday, at 2:15 p.m. (Brasília time). The following day, they will face Fortaleza at 3:45 p.m. At the same time, but on October 18, Timãozinho will take on Juventude at 3:45 p.m. Finally, on Monday (19), at 2:15 p.m., they will close out the opening stage against Flamengo.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for October 21. The grand final will be at 9:30 a.m. on October 22. The club from Parque São Jorge is returning to participate in Brazil’s main youth tournaments a few weeks after rejoining the Brazilian Youth Development Clubs Movement (MCFB) following a dispute with Palmeiras involving 16-year-old Pedro Morelli – look back at the case at the end of the article. In November, Timão will also take part in the Under-19 Copa Atlântico.

Look back at the case

The relationship between Corinthians and the MCF was broken in January 2025, when the club was excluded from the movement after a complaint filed by Palmeiras involving an alleged attempt to poach Pedro Morelli.

At the time, the player left the club from Barra Funda and went on to play for Corinthians at the Under-14 level. The complaint was reviewed by the MCF ethics council and ultimately resulted in Timão’s expulsion. The process also featured strong involvement from João Paulo Sampaio, Palmeiras’ youth academy coordinator.

The Youth Development Clubs Movement establishes rules of conduct for negotiations involving athletes between the ages of 10 and 14. The rules seek to combat the poaching of players in an age group prior to the existence of a development contract, establishing parameters that go beyond the legislation applicable to athletes who do not yet have federation ties.

Corinthians’ departure from the group had consequences for the club. Without being part of the MCF, Timão no longer had the backing of Brazil’s main teams to follow the movement’s rules regarding its youth categories. Since then, several players from the lower divisions have left Parque São Jorge.

In addition to the difficulty in keeping players, Corinthians was also barred from participating in some important youth competitions, including the Under-15 Copa Votorantim and the Nike Cup for the same age group—organized precisely by teams that are part of the MCF. Since the expulsion, the black-and-white club has been seeking a solution with Palmeiras to regain its place in the movement. The case involving Pedro Morelli has since become one of the main points of discussion in negotiations between the two boards.

Negotiations

During the month of May, Timão was negotiating an agreement with Palmeiras, the club the player represented before transferring to Parque São Jorge, to rejoin the MCF by sharing the player’s economic rights.

For that to happen, the player’s family would have had to give up 50% of the rights and transfer them to the Barra Funda club. However, the offer was ultimately rejected. Under the deal, Corinthians would pay Palmeiras R$1 million and, in return, the two clubs would begin sharing the player’s economic rights. Talks to try to resolve the deadlock lasted more than three months after Corinthians and Palmeiras reached an understanding. During that period, Morelli lost ground within the Corinthians squad.

The forward was no longer called up for matches and later also stopped taking part in training sessions with the Corinthians team. In the absence of an agreement, the board began to consider the player’s departure as the necessary path to try to unlock the process of Corinthians’ return to the MCF.

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