In debt to squad, São Paulo pay extra bonus after double Brasileirão win | OneFootball

São Paulo’s football department adopted a traditional practice from the sports world to motivate and reward the squad in the Brasileirão.

The board paid players extra cash bonuses, popularly known as “bicho,” right after the wins over Bragantino and Atlético-MG, both at Morumbi, as first reported by Ge.com.

The payments were made on a one-off basis and limited to the group of players in the locker room. The measure was aimed at easing the pressure on the team, which had gone ten matches without a win in the national tournament and was approaching the relegation zone before putting together its positive run.

The amounts paid to the players were not disclosed, but internally they are described as moderate sums. The board has already owed the group part of their image-rights payments for a few months and is working to settle the issue.

Whose idea was it?

The proposal for the immediate bonus came from football executive Rafinha and was approved by president Harry Massis Jr. Despite the squad’s positive reaction, São Paulo’s leadership has ruled out making the practice regular throughout the calendar due to the club’s budget limits.

The club’s financial model provides for structured bonuses tied to performance targets — such as advancing to later rounds in the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana, as well as the team’s final position in the Brasileirão table — with payments made at the end of the tournaments.

Thus, the cash payments worked as an extraordinary incentive outside the contractually established ceiling. When he took over the executive role at the start of the year, Rafinha highlighted how commonplace the incentive is in football.

“I’ve received cash bonuses at São Paulo, Flamengo, Grêmio, and Coritiba. I got them at every club I played for. That’s part of football. It’s the bicho molhado,” he said at the time.

Focus on the Copa Sudamericana

With six points added in the Brazilian Championship and the atmosphere eased by the recent wins, São Paulo’s squad has shifted its preparation toward the international stage.

São Paulo face Boca Juniors this Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinals. The return leg is scheduled for the following Tuesday at Morumbi.

The squad already trained on Sunday (6), and this Monday (7) they will hold their final session before traveling to the neighboring country in the afternoon.

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