Stabile calls meeting to oust Tuma, council president cries foul | OneFootball

The president of Corinthians, Osmar Stabile, published a notice last Wednesday night (18th) calling an extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council (CD) for March 23rd, with the purpose of deliberating on the provisional removal of the president of the body, Romeu Tuma Jr. The news was reported by journalist Pedro Ramiro.

The call, however, has become the subject of internal questioning for possible non-compliance with the Club’s Statute and Internal Regulations. According to the document, the meeting is scheduled to take place at the club’s theater, at 6:00 p.m. on first call and 7:00 p.m. on second call. On the agenda, the main item is the vote on the provisional removal of Tuma from the position of president of the Deliberative Council, in addition to the generic item “Various”.

Photo: Henrique Vigliotti/Central do Timão

In the notice, the board justifies the call based on the need to preserve the integrity of the ongoing disciplinary procedure, guarantee the freedom of witness statements, ensure the serenity of the proceedings, maintain the trust of council members and witnesses, safeguard the club’s institutional image, and regularize the statutory reform process.

The text also cites possible infractions of the Statute and Internal Regulations, mentioning article 27, item “d”, and article 28, as well as provisions of articles 3, 6, item XIII, 18, and 30 of the regulations.

Direct call by the board is contested

Despite the justification presented, the call made directly by president Osmar Stabile is considered illegitimate and formally irregular by council members interviewed by the report, who point out that the procedure provided for in the Statute for extraordinary meetings of the Deliberative Council would not have been observed.

Article 82 of the Statute establishes that the Deliberative Council must be called by its president, even if the meeting is requested by other club authorities, such as the president of the board, the president of CORI, the Fiscal Council, or at least 50 council members. In these cases, the rule determines that the president of the CD has up to 30 days to make the call after receiving the formal request.

Thus, although there is provision for the president of the board to request the holding of an extraordinary meeting, the Statute provides that the formal call must be made by the president of the Deliberative Council, a position currently held by Romeu Tuma Jr., which raises doubts about the validity of the published notice.

Disciplinary process is in the preliminary phase

Another point questioned is the fact that the removal is being considered before the conclusion of the disciplinary procedure that is pending before the Ethics Committee. The process was initiated by the board president himself, but, according to Central do Timão, it is still in the preliminary phase and Tuma has not been formally notified of the proceedings.

Contacted by the report to comment on the case, Leonardo Pantaleão, president of the Ethics and Discipline Committee, sent an official note in which he stated that he had no prior knowledge of the call and pointed out a formal irregularity in the notice published by the board.

According to him, the Statute is clear in assigning to the president of the Deliberative Council the authority to call meetings of the body, even if there is a request from other club powers, and non-compliance with this procedure compromises the validity of any possible deliberation.

Pantaleão also stated that, given the procedural flaw, he does not consider it legally appropriate to register attendance at a meeting called under such terms, stressing that compliance with statutory rules is essential for the preservation of legal security and institutional stability.

There is also controversy regarding the very possibility of the precautionary removal of a council member based on the provisions cited in the notice. The articles mentioned refer to rules applicable to members in general, and not specifically to members of the Deliberative Council, an interpretation that had already been raised in a previous episode involving an attempt to remove Tuma on similar grounds.

On that occasion, allies of the ousted president Augusto Melo even argued for the removal of Osmar Stabile from the interim presidency of Corinthians based on an alleged removal of Tuma, a scenario that did not materialize. The events took place on May 31, 2025, and resulted in the initiation of disciplinary proceedings before the club’s Ethics Committee against all those involved in the episode.

Tuma releases statement and accuses act of being “legally void” and “coup-like”

After the publication of the notice, the president of the Deliberative Council released an official statement in which he claims that the call is illegal and directly violates the club’s Statute.

In the statement, Romeu Tuma Jr. says he received the information “with immense indignation” and claims that he was not notified nor was he assured the right to a defense in the disciplinary procedure cited as grounds for his removal.

“The initiative blatantly violates article 82, item II, of the Social Statute, which establishes a clear procedure for calling extraordinary meetings of the Deliberative Council (…) It is, therefore, a legally void act, institutionally reckless, and a betrayal of the Statute,” he declared.

Tuma also criticizes the fact that the measure was taken before the conclusion of the analysis by the Ethics Committee and accuses the president of the board of concentrating decisions that, according to him, should be made by different bodies of the club.

“The president believes that he alone has the authority to file a complaint against me, to deliberate on the veracity of the evidence, to define the urgency of the removal, to order the publication of the notice, to judge the impediment, and even to decide who will preside over the meeting. All on his own, without being accountable to anyone,” he stated.

The official also declared that the call throws the club into yet another institutional crisis and suggested that the initiative may be related to the statutory reform process, whose General Assembly is scheduled for April 18th.

Statutory reform and political tension at Parque São Jorge

The call takes place amid a climate of intense political tension at Corinthians, which is simultaneously discussing statutory changes, internal investigations, and disciplinary procedures involving officials.

The atmosphere became more heated in the political backstage of Parque São Jorge during the Council meeting held on the 9th, which was to vote on the club’s statutory reform project. On that occasion, Osmar Stabile took the floor and made several accusations against Tuma, citing alleged threats from the president of the CD and attempts to interfere in management through requests sent to the board, according to the president himself.

Stabile’s statement caused general turmoil in the plenary, and the meeting was adjourned without the project being voted on. Invoking article 45 of the Statute, Tuma then ordered the reform to be sent directly to the General Assembly, scheduled for April 14th. In the same week, Osmar Stabile filed the request for Tuma’s removal from office.

Behind the scenes, the assessment is that the attempt to anticipate the vote on the removal before any statement from the Ethics Committee may generate legal challenges and even take the case to court.

Read in full the official statement released by the president of the Deliberative Council:

I receive with immense indignation the communication that the Presidency of the Executive Board of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, in an act flagrantly contrary to the current Statute of the club, has issued a notice calling for an extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council with the aim of removing me from office, without having been notified or given any opportunity for a defense.

It is shocking — though not surprising — that the president of Corinthians, himself the victim of a very serious attempt at institutional rupture on May 31, 2025, marked by the invasion of his office and the removal of documents, as he himself stated, now acts as the protagonist of a maneuver of unequivocally coup-like character.

The initiative blatantly violates Article 82, item II, of the Social Statute, which establishes a clear procedure for calling extraordinary meetings of the Deliberative Council, by means of a formal request addressed to the Presidency of the Council and with due observance of deadlines. It is, therefore, a legally void act, institutionally reckless, and a betrayal of the statute, for which reason there is no possibility of it taking place (in a legal environment).

It is despicable that the president would even disrespect the Ethics Committee of the Deliberative Council, legitimately elected to act in cases involving investigation of statutory infractions allegedly committed by officials and Council members.

The president believes that he alone has the authority to file a complaint against me, who preside over the body that is obliged to oversee him, to deliberate on the veracity and seriousness of the evidence he himself presented, to decide that there is urgency for my removal, to order the publication of a notice scheduling a meeting to remove me preliminarily, to judge me as impeded from presiding over such a meeting, and even to decide who should preside over it. All on his own, without being accountable to anyone. (Especially strange because, not long ago, Osmar Stabile, then vice-president, publicly rejected another less aggressive but equally anti-statutory attempt to remove me.)

Such conduct throws Corinthians into yet another institutional crisis and clearly reveals a deliberate strategy not only to obstruct the progress of the Statutory Reform — an agenda widely debated over months and whose General Assembly of members is scheduled for April 18th —, but also to evade responsibilities and refuse to be accountable to the club’s highest oversight body, which is the Deliberative Council, as the president himself made clear at the last Council meeting in his personal statement.

See also the position of the president of the Ethics and Discipline Committee of the Deliberative Council:

I was surprised by the call in question, which I receive with due institutional respect for both the President of the Board and the President of the Deliberative Council.

It should be noted that such a call did not have, not even tangentially, my knowledge or consent, both its intention and any possible definition of the agenda being entirely unknown to me until now.

From a technical-legal perspective, there is a formal flaw at the origin of the call. The Social Statute is clear in assigning, in its article 82, item II, letter ‘b’, to the President of the Deliberative Council the exclusive authority to call the collegiate, even if there is a request from other legitimate bodies.

This is a rule of mandatory compliance, whose omission compromises the legitimacy of any deliberations that may be formalized in a meeting thus constituted.

Given this situation, and with the serenity the moment requires, it does not seem legally appropriate to me, as Vice-President of the Deliberative Council, to register attendance at a meeting whose call is compromised from its inception.

I regret the moment the club is experiencing and reaffirm that respect for statutory rules is an indispensable prerequisite for the preservation of legal security and institutional stability.

See more:

Corinthians News

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