Tuma’s decision sparks debate, questions over Ethics process | OneFootball

The Ethics and Discipline Committee (CED) of the Corinthians Deliberative Council has a new president for about two weeks: Leonardo Pantaleão. A triennial counselor and former member of the club's legal department, he took on the role after being elected vice-president of the CD in the indirect election held at Parque São Jorge on August 25.

After introducing himself and carrying out the first dispatches in office, Pantaleão participated in his first meeting with the members of the body on the evening of last Wednesday, the 3rd, to address one of the most complex cases currently being processed in the CED: the Disciplinary Procedure (PD) 25/2025, under the rapporteurship of Rodrigo Bittar.

Romeu Tuma Júnior (Photo: Reproduction)

Established in June, this PD investigates the acts of May 31, when several members and counselors of Corinthians, allies of former president Augusto Melo (then only suspended), organized a movement at Parque São Jorge aiming to remove Romeu Tuma Júnior from the presidency of the Deliberative Council (CD), annul the impeachment vote of Augusto that occurred on May 26, and reinstate him to the club's leadership.

In recent days, however, this procedure has been the subject of intense debates behind the scenes at the club and also among fans on social media, due to a decision made by Tuma through a dispatch dated August 28. But what decision is this? What did it do in practice? And why is it considered controversial by some people internally?

To answer these questions, the Central do Timão obtained access to documents and spoke with those involved in the procedure to understand and explain the controversy. One of the documents obtained is the dispatch itself, which is five pages long and is a response to a request from August 27, made on behalf of Claudinei Alves, José Valmir da Costa, Luiz Soriano, and Viviane Vicente, which will be detailed first.

Request for reconsideration

The four are club members who, since July 11, were temporarily suspended for being identified as supporting the group that invaded Parque São Jorge on May 31. In the request, they complained about the delay with which the procedure was processing in Ethics and also pointed out an alleged difficulty in accessing the records to formulate their defenses.

Moreover, the request also protests against a procedural peculiarity of the case. This is because, at the beginning of the procedure's processing, the rapporteur Rodrigo Bittar determined that the investigations against members involved on May 31 should leave the Members' Ethics Committee, where it had originally started, and move to the Deliberative Council's Ethics Committee, aiming for a “unified and coherent” investigation of the facts affecting all involved. This unification was endorsed by Tuma.

According to the four members, the unification was detrimental because the conduct of a member could not be equated to that of a counselor, given the difference in responsibilities between the two positions.

“Art. 37- An appeal to the CD board will be possible within 10 days:I – from the decision of the Ethics and Discipline Committee that determines the immediate filing of the penalty application proposal:II – from the decision of the Ethics and Discipline Committee that decides on the application or not of a penalty to the member.”

In turn, in procedures conducted by the Deliberative Council's Ethics, appeals would be considered directly by the plenary, that is, in a vote by the counselors. To assert this, the group relies on the text of articles 77 and 81 of the statute. With this, they requested the CD president to reconsider the temporary suspension determined by Bittar and later validated by Ethics.

Tuma Jr.'s decision

In response to the request, Tuma agreed with the argument presented by the members' defense regarding the alleged suppression of rights as a consequence of the request's gathering, accepting the interpretation presented for articles 37 and 77 of the alvinegro statute.

He also agreed with the thesis of different responsibilities between members and counselors, stating that the individualization of conduct will be necessary during the investigation of the facts and that, therefore, there was no risk in the fact that the two Ethics Committees (members and counselors) investigate the case, each within its competence. Thus, he ordered the separation of the procedures, returning the investigations against the members to the Members' Ethics.

The most controversial decision, however, concerns the lifting of the temporary suspensions that had been determined. Tuma stated in the dispatch that the competence to address the issue lies with the disciplinary body, not the CD presidency. However, he alleged “risk of irreversible damage” to the defense of the involved members and, exceptionally, ordered the immediate revocation of the suspensions.

Finally, Tuma gave a 15-day deadline for the Members' Ethics Committee, currently presided over by member Luis Alberto Bussab, to deliberate again on the subject and decide if there is a need for those involved in the investigation to be suspended again. This deadline expires next Friday, the 12th.

Negative reaction

As the processing of disciplinary processes in Ethics occurs in secrecy, Tuma's decision was echoed in various ways behind the scenes at Corinthians and also among fans on social media. The diversity of interpretations about what really happened in the case was what motivated the editorial team, including, to seek the facts, culminating in the production of this article.

According to information gathered by the Central do Timão, the CD president's dispatch was the target of internal questioning. The decision was seen by some as an undue interference by Tuma in the work of Ethics, which on the date of the document's publication (August 28) already had a new president, as Leonardo Pantaleão had been elected vice-president of the Council three days earlier.

One of the arguments to justify dissatisfaction with the measure was Tuma's alleged contradiction in separating the procedures, as he was aware of the unification and even validated the decision of the rapporteur Rodrigo Bittar. A source heard stated that, at the time, the CD president acknowledged the legal basis used to connect the procedures and highlighted that it would help avoid “procedural turmoil” in the case.

Another point involves the “suppressed instance” thesis, raised by the members and accepted by Tuma. The questioning in this part of the decision concerns the use of article 77, which would only address decisions involving the loss of a lifetime counselor position, not temporary suspensions. The argument, consequently, is that the members could appeal to the CD board even with the unification of the processes.

It should be noted, on this point, that the statute does not expressly provide for the application of article 77 to temporary suspensions, leaving room for different interpretations regarding appeal procedures in this context.

The timing of the decision was also criticized. This is because the process in Ethics is ongoing, without a merit decision made and with the suspensions decided on a preliminary basis. Sources heard by the Central do Timão warned of the risks of an “institutional crisis” if the CD presidency decides to act as a “moderating power” of the CED. The fact that Tuma explicitly acknowledged that revoking the suspension was not typically his competence was also cited.

The counter-arguments

The editorial team sought Romeu Tuma Júnior to comment on the questions and criticisms received. Tuma defended himself, stating that he always understood that the procedures should be conducted separately by the Members' and Counselors' Ethics Committees, and that he does not consider it contradictory to have agreed with the unification in July, undoing the act two months later, when prompted by an appeal to the Council.

According to the CD president, the unification of the processes was validated in June to give “prestige” to the decision of the rapporteur Rodrigo Bittar in a context where the Ethics Committee was weakened, with the president on medical leave and two titular members of the body prevented from acting in the case as they were defendants in the same. In Tuma's understanding, at the time, the gathering of processes could expedite the procedure.

Additionally, the counselor refuted the allegation that he could not revoke the members' suspension. To justify his position, he cited article 89 of the Corinthians statute, which deals with the attributions of the Ethics and Discipline Committee, highlighting the third paragraph of item B, which provides for the “suspension of the act” by the CD president, without specifying which acts would be included.

“Art. 89 – The attributions of the Ethics and Discipline Committee are:A – To know, instruct, and report disciplinary processes related to the members of the CD itself, the Board, the CORI, the Fiscal Council, being able, for this purpose, to collect evidence, take depositions, and request information from all powers of CORINTHIANS.B – To proceed in the same way provided in the previous letter, in the cases of articles 35 and 38 of this statute, in disciplinary processes related to members or dependents.(…)§3°: Deciding on the suspension of the act, the President must convene the CD within 10 days for discussion and approval.”

Finally, Tuma also denied that he had overridden the committee with his dispatch. He defended the timing of the decision, justifying that the measure only happened due to the members' appeal directed directly to him, and that the delay of Ethics in proceeding with the process, with the end of the 60-day suspension approaching, would have generated the “risk of irreversible damage” mentioned in the text.

What happened next

According to information gathered by the Central do Timão, the Ethics Committee met last Wednesday, the 3rd, with alternate members, convened exclusively to investigate the invasion of Parque São Jorge, replacing the two titular members prevented from acting in the case due to their involvement.

The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the next steps of the procedure, but the group did not debate Tuma's dispatch that separated the investigations against the members and revoked their suspensions. With this, the separation was fulfilled, and the processes will proceed separately. A new meeting is scheduled for next week, aiming to continue the work.

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