SAFiel ends talks with current Corinthians board, keeps future plan | OneFootball

Talks between Corinthians’ current board and those responsible for SAFiel have come to an end. The project’s creators believe there are no longer any conditions to move forward with negotiations under president Osmar Stabile’s administration, mainly given the lack of communication in recent weeks and the proximity of the election scheduled for November.

This position was presented by businessmen Carlos Teixeira and Eduardo Salusse, two of the people behind the initiative, in an interview with Meu Timão. Although they consider dialogue with the current administration over, they say the project to turn Corinthians football into a Football Corporation (SAF) will continue to be defended within the club.

Photo: Gabriel Oliveira

“To be very frank, what is going through our minds today? First, one conclusion: in this term, with the club’s current board, the project will not move forward anymore. For us, that is already a closed chapter and a given reality,” said Carlos Teixeira.

Eduardo Salusse took a less definitive tone regarding a possible resumption still under this administration, but pointed out that this scenario is considered unlikely. According to the businessman, the group did not receive the response needed to continue negotiations.

“It is not a definitive conclusion, but I would say this is the most likely scenario — especially because of the lack of communication between the board and our group over the last three or four weeks, and because the term is already nearing its end. It does not seem to us that this period is productive for continuing what needed to be done. We had a concrete opportunity to move forward, but unfortunately we did not see from the club the minimum feedback necessary for us to keep going. Therefore, with so little time left until the election, it is very unlikely that there will be a sudden change. But if by chance that happens, we are prepared.”

Meeting at Parque São Jorge marked an attempt to bring the sides closer

The relationship between the sides had an important moment on August 26, when SAFiel members and Corinthians representatives officially met to discuss the project. The meeting at Parque São Jorge lasted about four hours and included technical questions about the proposal presented by the group.

Carlos Teixeira said that, at the end of the meeting, those responsible for the project received around 200 questions from the club. According to him, Osmar Stabile also requested that the following discussions be conducted privately.

“On August 26, if I’m not mistaken, we spent almost five hours in a meeting with the club. Present were president Osmar Stabile, vice president Armando Mendonça, Dr. Romeu Tuma (president of the Deliberative Council), Dr. Miguel Marques (president of the Advisory Council), and other directors. It was a long and exhausting meeting. At the end, we received about 200 questions from the club, accompanied by an express request from president Osmar: that the conversations from then on between Corinthians and SAFiel should not take place through the press. He made that very clear in that room.”

Shortly afterward, the situation of Neo Química Arena became the central focus of the discussions. Stabile publicly stated that he would sign the binding document if SAFiel made it possible to settle the stadium debt. In response, the project’s creators sent a letter committing to structure the early raising of the funds, provided there was prior formalization of the agreement and authorization to conduct the talks with Caixa Econômica Federal.

SAFiel reports lack of response from the presidency

According to Carlos Teixeira, the group publicly accepted the condition presented by the president and later sought to formalize the necessary procedures.

“He caught us by surprise, but we met, assessed the scenario very responsibly and, by the end of the day, confirmed that we accepted the challenge. Before publishing the official statement, I called him and said: ‘President, we are accepting your proposal. We are going to make a post to make this clear to everyone, since you issued a public challenge.’”

After that statement, those responsible sent an email to Corinthians and also sought to formally file the documentation. According to Teixeira, the presidency did not contact the group directly again.

“Next, we sent an email to the club reaffirming our acceptance and detailing the operational measures necessary for the settlement to be completed. As we received no reply to the email, we sent a registered letter to formally record receipt at the club. Since then, there has been no further direct contact with us.”

Teixeira also challenged the possibility of making the payment related to the Arena before signing a contractual instrument with Corinthians.

“The only response from president Osmar once again came through the press, when he said: ‘They have to pay for the Arena first. Then we will make the contract.’ I sent him a direct message: ‘Osmar, this condition is unacceptable. There is no financial, business, or legal logic whatsoever in making a payment of that amount before having a contract signed with the club.’ Furthermore, it is worth noting that the president does not have individual statutory authority to sign a binding proposal as he promised. The clear impression left is that this was a purely political gesture, with no real intention of building an agreement.”

The assessment of the presidency’s intention reflects the interpretation of those responsible for SAFiel. Eduardo Salusse added that Romeu Tuma Júnior, president of the Deliberative Council, and Miguel Marques, president of the Advisory Council (Cori), acknowledged receipt of the documentation sent by the group.

The end of talks does not mean the end of SAFiel

Despite considering the possibility of an agreement with the current board exhausted, the group intends to keep defending the proposal at Corinthians.

Salusse argues that any definitive decision on the model should go through the club’s members. The implementation of an SAF, in any case, would depend on a series of internal and regulatory procedures, not just an agreement with the Executive Board.

“It was not the owner of Corinthians who did not want to receive us. It was someone who is temporarily in the presidency. The legitimate holder of the sovereign right to deliberate is the club member. I have said on other occasions that, on the day the member, gathered in a General Assembly, says: ‘goodbye, SAFiel, we are no longer interested,’ our role will be over. Until that happens, I understand that this resistance is illegitimate, because it is not up to someone exercising a temporary mandate — and who therefore has a fiduciary duty to those who elected him — to impose this kind of authoritarian filter.”

Thus, the decision announced now ends negotiations with Osmar Stabile’s administration, not the project as a whole. Those responsible intend to continue working so that the proposal is discussed within Corinthians.

Project envisions billion-real fundraising

SAFiel’s first formal proposal was presented to the presidency on June 2. The plan provides for an initial fundraising of R$ 2.5 billion, with the possibility of reaching R$ 3 billion.

According to the project, the funds would be directed mainly toward paying football-related debts, sports and infrastructure investments, implementing governance mechanisms, and strengthening the social club.

The model presented also provides for financial participation by fans, with contributions starting at R$ 250 and participation limits per CPF. Outside investors could acquire non-voting shares to complement the fundraising, if necessary.

The proposal also establishes mechanisms to preserve Corinthians’ name, crest, colors, and other elements of its identity.

For the project to actually get off the ground, however, several stages would still be necessary, including independent analyses, due diligence, club valuation, regulatory procedures, and approval by the statutory bodies. The final stage envisaged by the group includes a General Assembly of members to deliberate on the transformation.

With talks interrupted with the current board, SAFiel’s future now depends on Corinthians’ next political and institutional moves, as the club will hold a presidential election on November 28.

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