Urgent: Casares to resign after São Paulo match, says TV | OneFootball

Julio Casares is expected to step down as president of São Paulo after the upcoming match against São Bernardo at Morumbi, for the Campeonato Paulista.

The information was released moments ago by the channel ‘XSports‘, which broadcast the under-20 Tricolor team’s victory in the Copa São Paulo de Juniores. The Morumbi club had not made an official statement by the time this report was published.

According to the portal ‘Tricolor na Web‘, the São Paulo president decided to leave the club’s top post after learning from allies that the opposition already has 202 votes for his removal in the impeachment vote scheduled for this Friday (16th) by the Deliberative Council at Morumbi.

An indication of Casares’ intentions emerged earlier this evening, when São Paulo’s official social media account announced that the social club would operate at normal hours on Friday. Previously, due to the vote, it was set to close earlier and only council members would have access for the vote, scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm (Brasília time).

Still according to ‘Tricolor na Web‘, the result of tonight’s match will mark the moment when Casares will announce his resignation. If the team wins, the statement will be released right after the game. If not, only on Friday morning.

Casares suffered a decisive defeat on Wednesday (14th), when Judge Mônica Rodrigues Doas de Carvalho, from the 1st Chamber of Private Law of the São Paulo Court of Justice, rejected the appeal filed by São Paulo against a previous favorable decision that reinstated the minimum quorum for the president’s impeachment vote, as well as establishing a hybrid model between in-person and virtual participation for the process.

In the judge’s view, there are no grounds for changing what was previously determined.

“Initially, although the issue of minimum quorum has been discussed, I note that the accepted decision already admitted that the meeting should observe, for its start, the minimum presence defended by the appellant. I emphasize that there was no determination regarding the deliberation quorum, but only regarding the minimum presence for opening the meeting, so there is no reason to address this matter at this time. Furthermore, with due respect, I did not see which regulatory provision prohibits the electronic participation of council members,” reads a section of the decision.

An injunction issued by Judge Luciane Cristina Silva Tavares, from the 3rd Civil Court of Butantã, earlier in the week, had changed the ‘rule’ for the impeachment, annulling the decision of the president of the body, Olten Ayres de Abreu, and reinstating the rule to open the process to remove Casares with only 171 favorable votes, as well as allowing the extraordinary meeting to be held in a hybrid manner.

The lawsuit was filed by lawyer Amanda Nunes and was brought by council members Caio Forjaz, Daniel Dinis Fonseca, Fabio Machado, José Medicis, José Carlos Ferreira Alves, Kalef João Francisco Neto, Marcelo Portugal Gouvêa, Miguel de Sousa, and Waldo Jose Valim Braga.

The assessment is that several council members who would vote in favor of Casares’ removal would not be able to attend Friday’s meeting because they are traveling or on vacation.

The judge responsible for the decision also sees no conflict between articles 58 and 112 of São Paulo’s Social Statute. She states that a 75% quorum (191 council members) is required for the meeting to be held, but only two-thirds of votes in favor of impeachment are needed for Casares to be removed from the presidency.

“Observing both statutory provisions, it is clear that article 58, §2 establishes the quorum for voting, that is, the minimum number of council members present, while article 112 sets the number of votes required for the removal of the President. Thus, the second notice is correct, which provides for a minimum quorum of 75% of the Council members for the meeting whose objective is to deliberate on the removal of the President of the Board,” the judge writes in her ruling.

Last week, Abreu had rejected the request filed by the opposition for the vote to be held in a hybrid manner. That is, both in person and virtually, arguing it would increase participation of council members and reduce risks related to the external environment and public outcry.

In the meeting’s call notice, Abreu argues that the in-person format ensures “the maximum irrefutability of the secret ballot, protecting the autonomy of the voting council member.”

Furthermore, he justifies that given the importance of the matter, in-person voting “is essential for legal security and the unquestionable legitimacy of the final decision.”

But this was not the only measure taken by Abreu, let’s say, more lenient toward the president. Earlier, he issued a favorable opinion on a request made by Casares himself to change the necessary quorum of votes to open the impeachment process.

In his ruling, the president of the Council acknowledged the existence of a statutory controversy, as different items in the document provide for different percentages for the approval of removal.

But, according to him, the understanding is that, given the seriousness of the accusations that led to the vote, the interpretation most favorable to the accused should prevail.

With the change, the minimum number of votes in favor of impeachment now rises from 171 to 191, that is, 75% of the Council.

The first step to opening the removal process happens after a formal request from opposition council members to the current Tricolor management, who gathered the 57 signatures necessary to initiate the removal of the president, as per the club’s Statute, at the end of December.

With this approval, the president would already be removed from office, and the São Paulo vice-president, Harry Massis Júnior, would assume the position.

Even so, however, for the removal process to be completed, Casares will still undergo a review in a general assembly with all dues-paying members of the social club. A simple majority vote would seal the departure of the executive.

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