Cuca addresses rape conviction and backlash over Santos arrival | OneFootball

A day after his announcement, Cuca was officially presented as the new coach of Santos this Friday. During his press conference, the coach was questioned about his conviction for rape and revealed that he did not give the “due importance” to the matter at the time.

“I didn’t follow the repercussions because it was a day of travel and work. Since 1987, when this episode happened, I have managed several teams. In fact, I never gave this issue the importance it deserved, because it was forgotten for more than 30 years, I didn’t even know there was a trial,” he said.

“At Corinthians, after everything that happened, I met with my family and we said ‘let’s resolve this’. We did everything possible to reopen the case and couldn’t achieve more than what was done: the annulment of the case and compensation that we didn’t need. All to bring my dignity home. Nobody wants to know about Cuca, they want to know about the cause,” he added.

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Cuca also stated that he participates in many actions in favor of women and sees it as an “obligation” to help the cause. The coach also spoke about the negative reaction to his agreement with Peixe on social media.

“I do a lot for the cause, but I’m not one to talk about it. I stepped away from football for a year to resolve this, spent a lot of money on it. Today I give lectures discussing the topic, this is called educating. I funded female refereeing courses, hosted a volleyball team from Irati at my home who came to play in Curitiba and couldn’t afford it. Today I represent Santos and have the obligation to try to include myself in this process and try to help,” he commented.

“I understand people who are disappointed, they live off the news, but I ask that they understand me too. I did everything I could under the ideal conditions. What’s important today is not Cuca, it’s the cause, and I’ve already said what I do for the cause and will continue to do. My journey is not over, there’s a long way to go,” he concluded.

At the time of the events, the victim was 13 years old, while Cuca was playing for Grêmio. The Tribunal's decision, issued in 2024, did not analyze the merits of the accusation, limiting itself to annulling the conviction due to its conduct — in absentia, without the presence of the defendant or the action of his defense.

Cleared to debut

Cuca was registered in the BID on Friday night and is cleared to lead the Santos team against Cruzeiro this Sunday at 4 pm (Brasília time), at Mineirão.

Next match

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