Tuma calls Stabile’s actions a “coup”, Pantaleão denies attending

In partnership with

Gazeta Esportiva.com

·19 March 2026

Tuma calls Stabile’s actions a “coup”, Pantaleão denies attending

By Tiago Salazar and André Costa

The president of the Deliberative Council of Corinthians, Romeu Tuma Júnior, received with “indignation” the extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council called by the club president, Osmar Stabile. The meeting, announced for next Monday at Parque São Jorge, aims to vote on Tuma’s provisional removal.

OneFootball Videos

In contact with Gazeta Esportiva, Romeu Tuma Júnior reiterated that he was not informed about the call and classified Stabile’s act as a “coup maneuver.” He also spoke of a “deliberate strategy” to obstruct the advancement of the Corinthians statute reform project.

See below, in full, the response from Romeu Tuma Júnior:

“I receive with immense indignation the communication that the Presidency of the Executive Board of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, in an act blatantly contrary to the club’s current Statute, has issued a call for an extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council with the aim of removing me from office, without having notified me or established any adversarial process.

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 removal of documents, as he himself stated, now acts as the protagonist of an unequivocally coup-like maneuver.

The initiative flagrantly violates Article 82, item II, of the Social Statute, which establishes a clear procedure for calling extraordinary meetings of the Deliberative Council, through a formal request addressed to the Presidency of the Council and with due observance of deadlines. It is, therefore, a legally null act, institutionally reckless, and a betrayal of the statute, for which reason there is no possibility of it being carried out (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 violations allegedly committed by directors and councilors.

The president believes that he alone has the authority to file a complaint against me, who presides over the body that is obliged to oversee him, to deliberate on the veracity and seriousness of the evidence he himself presented, to determine 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 prevented 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 so 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 advancement of the Statute Reform — an agenda widely debated over months and whose General Assembly of members is scheduled for April 18 — 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 explicit at the last Council meeting, in his personal statement.”

(Photo: Evander Portilho/ Ag. Corinthians)

The call notice was published in newspapers this morning. Stabile, without any prior contact with the Council leadership, based his action on Article 112, item 6, of the Corinthians Social Statute. The article covers all the duties of the president of the club’s executive board, and item 6 states the following:

“6 – To call the Deliberative Council, the CORI, the Board, the Fiscal Council”

The call, however, contradicts Article 82, item II, of the Corinthians Statute, which was ignored in the notice and which determines the procedure to be followed for calling an extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council.

According to item A of Article 82, an extraordinary meeting of the Deliberative Council can be called at the initiative of the president of the body, in this case, Romeu Tuma Júnior.

Item B allows the meeting to be called through a request from the president of the executive board (Osmar Stabile), the president of CORI (Advisory Council), the Fiscal Council, or at least 50 members of the Deliberative Council. In this case, the date of the meeting must be set exclusively by the president of the body, that is, Romeu Tuma Júnior, within a period of 30 days.

See, in full, what the article says:

“Art. 82 – The Deliberative Council shall meet, called by its President:

II – Extraordinarily: A – At the initiative of its President: B – At the request of the President of the Executive Board, the President of CORI, the Fiscal Council, or 50 (fifty) members of the Deliberative Council itself, stating the purpose of the call, in which case the President of the Deliberative Council must obligatorily call the meeting within a maximum period of 30 days from the date of delivery of the request to the Council board.”

Vice President of the Council denies attendance

Vice President of the Deliberative Council and President of the Ethics and Discipline Committee, Leonardo Pantaleão said he was surprised by Osmar Stabile’s action. To the report, he noted a “formal defect” in the origin of the call and ruled out attending the meeting.

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

It should be noted that such a call did not count, not even tangentially, with my knowledge or consent, and until now I was completely unaware of both its intention and any possible definition of the agenda.

From a technical-legal perspective, a formal defect is found in the origin of the call. The Social Statute is clear in assigning, in its art. 82, item II, subparagraph ‘b’, to the President of the Deliberative Council the exclusive competence to call the collegiate body, even if there is a request from other legitimate bodies.

This is a rule of mandatory observance, the breach of which compromises the legitimacy of any deliberations that may be formalized in the context of a meeting thus constituted.

Given this situation, and with the serenity that the moment requires, it does not seem legally appropriate, in my capacity as Vice President of the Deliberative Council, to register my presence 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 preserving legal certainty and institutional stability.”

The Gazeta Esportiva report also contacted Osmar Stabile’s press office seeking a statement on the case and questioned the divergences regarding Articles 82 and 89 of the Statute. Up to the time of publication, the president of Corinthians had not commented. If that happens, the text will be updated or a new article will be published.

As Gazeta Esportiva revealed earlier this week, Corinthians councilors have been working behind the scenes at Parque São Jorge to gather 50 signatures and put Tuma’s removal on the Deliberative Council’s agenda. However, as the report found, the group has not yet reached the necessary quorum.

Last week, Corinthians president Osmar Stabile filed a request with the club’s Ethics Committee seeking the precautionary removal of Romeu Tuma Júnior. The director bases his action on Articles 18, 27 (letter D), 28 (letter D), and 30, as well as articles 3 and 6 of the internal regulations, which, in summary, refer to possible suspension penalties for members who violate the current Statute.

On the other hand, the president of the Deliberative Council relies on Article 89. It is worth remembering that last year, then-president Augusto Melo tried to remove Tuma in a similar request but was unsuccessful.

Article 89 determines the procedure the Ethics Committee must follow when the removal request is for an elected councilor, not just someone who is a club member. The article does not provide for preliminary or provisional suspension, as requested by Osmar Stabile, and states exactly the following:

“The duties of the Ethics and Discipline Committee are:

a – To be aware of, instruct, and report on disciplinary proceedings relating to members of the Deliberative Council itself, the Executive Board, the CORI, and the Fiscal Council, being able, for this purpose, to collect evidence, take statements, and request information from all Corinthians authorities.

b – To proceed in the same way as provided in the previous letter, in the cases of articles 35 and 38 of this statute, in disciplinary proceedings relating to members or dependents.

1st: The Disciplinary Committee, in the case of letter B, may collect new evidence, take new statements, add new documents, and request information from the Executive Board for the faithful fulfillment of its duties.

2nd: The final opinion of the Disciplinary Committee will be submitted to the deliberation of the Deliberative Council as provided in Article 43 of this Statute.

3rd: If the act is suspended, the President must call the Deliberative Council within 10 days for discussion and approval.”

(Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Agência Corinthians)

If Romeu Tuma Júnior is removed, the Corinthians Deliberative Council would be taken over by Leonardo Pantaleão, the vice president of the body. Pantaleão’s position, which is combined with the presidency of the Ethics and Discipline Committee, would go to Maria Ângela de Souza Ocampos, the central figure in a commotion caused at Parque São Jorge on May 31 of last year. She is, in fact, facing a disciplinary process in the club’s Ethics Committee because of that act, which aimed to seek Tuma’s provisional removal and, consequently, remove Stabile from the club presidency so that Augusto Melo could return to the post.

Heated exchange in the Council

Osmar Stabile and Romeu Tuma Júnior overshadowed the vote on the Corinthians Statute reform with a heated exchange that boiled over at Parque São Jorge last Monday.

The discussion happened right at the start of the meeting in the club’s social headquarters auditorium. Stabile made accusations against Romeu, who defended himself and claimed to have evidence that the president was lying. The altercation sparked a major commotion among councilors, with insults and even shoving exchanged.

Understand the conflict

Stabile accuses Tuma of trying to interfere in the club’s executive management. According to Osmar, the last straw was on March 7, during a conversation between them. The president claims he was threatened by Romeu.

According to the director, Romeu allegedly said to him during dinner: “Either you do what I want, or I’ll f*** you.”

(Photo: André Costa/Gazeta Press)

The reason for the conflict is the alleged hiring of Aldair Borges to join the security team at Parque São Jorge. The professional was mentioned in a Civil Police inquiry as responsible for hiding the gates and allowing unauthorized people access to the club on January 20, 2025. On that occasion, there was a major commotion after a Council meeting that would vote on the impeachment of then-president Augusto Melo.

On one side, Stabile denies that the professional was rehired. He says that Aldair was at Parque São Jorge to ask for a job, claiming to be going through a difficult financial situation, but was not hired.

Romeu Tuma Júnior, on the other hand, guarantees he has evidence that the executive board rehired not just one, but two professionals involved in the episode. He also denies any threat to Stabile.

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