Hardline opposition blasts Caboclo bid: “Affront to club and fans” | OneFootball

As expected, the unofficial launch of Rogério Caboclo’s candidacy for the São Paulo presidency, with the backing of Olten Ayres de Abreu and his allies, was not well received internally at the club and sparked reactions.

The strongest of them came precisely from one of the main leaders of the club’s grassroots opposition, which has maintained an ideological line against the administration since Julio Casares took charge.

Through his social media, council member Caio Forjaz, from the Salve o Tricolor Paulista group, blasted even his fellow members of the body over the recording and release of the video of the dinner held by Caboclo and Olten, which sealed the launch of the potential ticket.

“The video released today (Wednesday), recorded by a newly elected lifetime council member during a pre-launch meeting for the candidacy of another lifetime council member, lays bare how much part of the Council seems to have completely lost any sense of the institutional responsibility it carries before São Paulo FC,” Forjaz said.

Forjaz recalled Caboclo’s dismal record as a lifetime council member of the club. He also stressed that the weight of having been accused of sexual harassment by an employee, which ultimately cost him the CBF presidency, are key factors behind why the candidacy should be opposed.

“We are talking about someone who has not worked for the club for at least seven years, who stayed silent in important votes, fully supported the Casares administration, and who also left the CBF after extremely serious accusations of sexual harassment by his own secretary. Even so, there are those who treat this candidacy as something normal — or acceptable,” he wrote.

“It took five years of struggle to remove people and practices that weakened the club, damaged its image, and contributed to the scenario we are living through. Now, they are trying to foist on São Paulo precisely someone who supported all of this and who also carries such a heavy record outside the club. This is not just a political choice. It is an affront to history, to the institution, and to the intelligence of the São Paulo supporter,” he added.

The Case

São Paulo unofficially has its first candidate for the elections at the end of the year that will decide Harry Massis’s successor as president.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR revealed, a dinner held on Tuesday night (4) determined that the political group of Olten Ayres de Abreu, president of the Deliberative Council, along with some supporting factions, made official their support for Rogério Caboclo, former president of the CBF.

In an official statement, Olten confirmed he took part in a dinner at Caboclo’s residence and reaffirmed his support for the executive’s pre-candidacy to lead Morumbi.

According to Olten, the decision is the result of an ongoing process of dialogue among members of the Deliberative Council. The executive denied that the meeting was meant to seal full tickets, definitive alliances, or the parceling out of corporate posts, calling such versions social media speculation.

Institutional Clarifications and Defense of Debate

The official statement detailed that the participation of Cléo Prado, the club’s women’s football director, took place exclusively under her prerogative as a council member, without representing an endorsement from São Paulo’s executive board.

Olten Ayres also condemned personal attacks directed at the dinner participants and defended the legitimacy of internal political maneuvering.

‘Salve o Tricolor’ Group Disagrees and Points to Another Name

Parallel to Olten’s movement, the leadership of the Salve o Tricolor Paulista political group, made up of figures from the so-called “grassroots opposition” to the Massis administration, issued a statement distancing itself from Rogério Caboclo’s possible candidacy:

Disavowal of videos: The group said content linking the opposition wing to Caboclo does not have the backing of its coordinators.

Own candidacy: The wing reiterated its intention to launch lifetime council member Marcelinho Portugal Gouvêa as the ideal name to run for the Tricolor presidency in the 2026 election.

Understand

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR revealed in May, the coalition formed by the main political groups opposing Harry Massis at São Paulo met at the time and reached some conclusions.

After considering themselves betrayed by Vinícius Pinotti because of his decision to announce Rogério Caboclo’s name last weekend as a pre-candidate for the elections at the end of the year, which did not go over well either internally or externally, the group decided to remove the former football director from decision-making.

Himself a former presidential hopeful, Pinotti will now be limited to giving opinions and funding the campaign. The former executive is said to have admitted he slipped up, since Caboclo himself, the former CBF president, was not interested in running in the December election, according to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR.

A committee was created with representatives from all opposition tickets. This group will be responsible, so to speak, for communicating the decisions made. And the first task has already been completed: the announcement of the new contender in the presidential race.

Marcelinho Portugal Gouvêa is the son of the historic president from 2002 to 2006 and the man in charge during the three straight Libertadores and Club World Cup titles.

A name viewed favorably by the fans and with a certain reach among groups of independent council members, especially the cardeais, he has orbited the opposition since 2013, when he broke with Juvenal Juvêncio, his father’s former ally. He usually appears giving interviews about the club’s political and financial situation.

The name of Marcelinho, put forward by the so-called “grassroots opposition,” made up of those who have opposed the administration since Julio Casares, still depends on approval from some recent allies, including associates of Olten Ayres de Abreu, the suspended president of the Deliberative Council.

Previously, businessman Dáurio Speranzini was treated as the main option to lead the bloc. However, the viability of his name lost strength amid growing resistance among members and councilors.

Members of the group admit that although Speranzini is considered prepared for the role, the political wear and tear surrounding the revelation of his involvement in Operation Car Wash in 2018, when he was even arrested, made it impossible to build a competitive candidacy. Recurring criticism of the businessman behind the scenes at the club began to directly influence the electoral college. A decision made at the beginning of last year by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, however, acquitted him for lack of evidence.

Controversies Involving Caboclo

Caboclo’s name was not well received on social media, precisely because of the allegations from when he presided over the CBF. At the time, audios of an inappropriate conversation with her were released by TV Globo. The executive described his remarks as “inappropriate jokes.” He has always denied the accusations and was cleared in court at the beginning of 2024.

The former CBF president is a lifetime council member, but not very active at São Paulo. Records of his family’s involvement with the club date back to the 1960s, and his father, for example, took part in Henri Aidar’s administration at the beginning of the following decade.

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