New Copa do Brasil payout could help São Paulo clear internal debts | OneFootball

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced a structural change to the Copa do Brasil prize-money model starting in the 2027 season that could help São Paulo address part of its endless debts.

After reshaping the competition’s broadcasting rights and signing commercial deals worth more than R$ 4 billion for the 2027-2030 four-year period, the governing body will increase the financial distributions to participating clubs, but with strict rules on how the new funds can be used.

Under the new format, the distribution of funds will be divided into two distinct categories:

The money could help Tricolor

The biggest innovation in the CBF regulation lies in the mandatory allocation of the new fixed share. The amounts must be used primarily to settle overdue financial liabilities — such as debts with other clubs, labor-related claims, and tax obligations.

And this is where São Paulo could benefit. The club is going through the biggest financial crisis in its history, with debt estimated at around R$ 1 billion. In the current squad, players are dealing with delays in image-rights payments, in some cases reaching six months.

In addition, at the beginning of this month of September, the club also delayed the registered salary payments of Tricolor players and staff, a debt that has been paid off little by little.

São Paulo has already suffered two FIFA transfer-ban punishments — now resolved — for delays in payments to other clubs. In addition, it still owes R$ 1.1 million to Grêmio Novorizontino for the signing of defensive midfielder Djhordney, who has been standing out in the squad and is currently with the Brazil U-20 national team in Spain for friendly matches.

The National Agency for Football Regulation and Sustainability, the CBF body responsible for monitoring Financial Fair Play, ruled on August 12 that São Paulo would have 45 days to fully pay off the debt related to the midfielder’s signing, agreed with Novorizontino. The deadline therefore expires next Saturday (26).

How does it work?

For institutions that prove they are up to date and have no operational debts, the funds must be used to improve the infrastructure of the training centers and stadiums of the clubs in question.

By imposing this budget restriction, the CBF aims to prevent the amount from being used to fund new player signings or pay “bichos” (victory bonuses for the squad), practices historically associated with rising debt in Brazilian football.

The CBF board said that the detailed table with the nominal amounts of the fixed share and the prize money for each round will be published in the official regulations of the upcoming editions of the tournament.

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