São Paulo chiefs ousted after illegal Morumbi box scheme exposed | OneFootball

São Paulo doesn't have a day of peace. The latest scandal at the club emerged on the morning of this Monday (15), with the revelation that Douglas Schwartzmann, responsible for the club's youth categories, and Mara Casares, ex-wife of president Julio Casares and cultural and events director, were allegedly illegally selling tickets for Morumbi's VIP boxes during a concert.

As a consequence, both requested leave from their positions. In a statement, São Paulo informed that it “became aware of the audio content through the press and will conduct a proper investigation of the facts.” “Based on this analysis, the club will take the necessary measures,” the text states.

Audio message exchanges revealed by ‘Globo Esporte‘ indicate that Schwartzmann and Mara sold tickets irregularly for a VIP box provided by Marcio Carlomagno, the current CEO of Tricolor and a likely candidate for the presidency in the 2026 election.

The incident occurred in February this year, as shown in a lawsuit in the 3rd Civil Court of the Regional Forum IX – Vila Prudente, which AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR accessed. The concert in question was by Colombian singer Shakira, held at Morumbi, and the VIP box is called “3A,” located next to the presidential box in the stadium.

The lawsuit describes that Schwartzmann and Mara transferred the right to use the VIP box to an intermediary. Rita, in turn, made over R$ 130,000 selling tickets for the concert, with each ticket going for more than R$ 2,000.

However, the intermediary ended up ‘complicating’ the scheme after she went to court against another businesswoman, claiming that she took an envelope with 60 tickets for the Shakira concert without her authorization.

According to the first intermediary, the second mentioned bought the tickets for R$ 132,000 but only paid R$ 100,000, which led her not to authorize the delivery of the mentioned envelope.

For this reason, the complainant went to the Civil Police and filed a police report at the 34th DP (Vila Sônia).

Upon learning of the matter, Schwartzmann and Mara began to pressure the complainant to withdraw the action against the involved party before the VIP box selling scheme became public.

The phone conversations between the parties were recorded and ended up leaking in a report by ‘Globo Esporte‘, published this morning. In one of the released excerpts, Schwartzmann admits that the sale of the VIP box was done “clandestinely” and accused the involved party of “burning people.”

“Did you never know that it was done clandestinely? That's the word. Or didn't you know? Did you know or not?” Douglas questioned.

“The three of us know how it was done. You're not stupid, neither am I, nor anyone else. It was done improperly. Not normally. It's not normal. It was a favor. And you're wasting a favor, burning the people who helped you,” he continued.

“Your mistake back then caused a loss, it's over. There's no recovery, dear. There isn't. Everyone lost there. Now, do you want to harm Mara (Casares) and Marcio (Carlomagno)? Is that it?” he added, before admitting that he also gained rights in the irregular scheme.

“And I'll repeat one thing. You are a person Mara (Casares) trusted. I only got into this because Mara assured me you were completely trustworthy. From the first day, I told you this. We can't do wrong things here. So, there was a business where you made money, I made money, everyone made money. But it was all done on trust,” he emphasized.

“Wrong thing? If you made a mistake, you have to deal with it. There's no other way, dear. There's no other way. There isn't,” he declared.

Schwartzmann also suggests to the complainant several times that the intermediary contact her lawyer and end the process.

“Does your lawyer know it's all clandestine? Do you want me to explain to him how you got this business? Do you want me to call your lawyer and explain that you didn't have the right to sell that? Because you know you didn't. I, you, and Mara know,” Schwartzmann argued, in another excerpt released by ‘GE‘.

The call with the leaked audios was recorded shortly before the series of concerts that took place at Morumbi between September and November, which forced Tricolor to play several times at Vila Belmiro during the final stretch of the Brazilian Championship.

In the conversation, Schwartzmann even warns of a possible end to the relationship for the use of the VIP box and ticket sales, as the businesswoman was “harming everyone.”

“What I said is that we made an unusual deal to help you, help Mara (Casares), and me. That's the only truth in this story. And now what are you doing? Harming everyone,” he accused.

“I didn't say anything, on the contrary. We were trying to resolve it because there are five or six shows in November, if I'm not mistaken, and in August,” he added.

In its Social Statute, São Paulo provides for penalties for club members who commit infractions.

According to article 34, the possible penalties are: warning, suspension, indemnification, loss of mandate, temporary ineligibility, and elimination from the social framework.

Item Q of article 10 of the club's Internal Regulations also states that “causing damage to the image of São Paulo, in any condition or in the exercise of any position belonging to the powers” of the club is subject to suspension from 90 to 270 days. The penalty may increase by a third if the member holds a position in the association.

After the club's official statement, Mara spoke through a group of advisors, where she released a text explaining herself. Check out the full text below:

“Dear all, with much pain and sadness I come here to open my heart,

I was surprised by a report that ended up becoming the center of attention from distorted conversations, taken out of their real context, related to an audio leaked maliciously and with a clear bias of political infeasibility.

Throughout all these years, I have always sought to train myself and act responsibly to honor, with love and dedication, the volunteer work I do for the club. On the mentioned occasion, my statement had the sole objective of defending the Institution, which was being unjustly involved in a process of which it was not part, as it was a strictly commercial relationship between third parties, without any involvement of the club.

Unfortunately, amid political disputes, some limits have been crossed. False narratives are being created, private conversations are being exposed, and, in a profoundly unfair manner, my name is being associated with situations that do not correspond to the reality of the facts.

It is painful to see how far the attempt to discredit and tarnish someone's reputation can go to serve personal interests. An isolated conversation, at a more heated debate moment, cannot and should not be treated as absolute truth or receive distorted and decontextualized interpretations.

I have always guided my conduct by respect, truth, and dignity, and I will not accept that untruths are used as an instrument of attack. I am convinced that the truth always prevails.

I remain firm, with a clear conscience, trusting that those who live with me and know me know who I am. I would never do anything that could harm my children, to whom I owe love, respect, and the preservation of their integrity above all, and this management that I have always valued for its integrity and would not be capable of tarnishing everything I have built on the basis of truth and serious work.

My actions have always been guided by commitment to the Institution, never by personal interests.

Therefore, I request leave from my volunteer activities at the club at this moment to have the necessary serenity to clarify each point with responsibility and transparency, certain that I will not disappoint those who trust me.

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