War declared: Massis seeks Olten’s expulsion from São Paulo | OneFootball

* With Alexandre Giesbrecht, from ANOTAÇÕES TRICOLORES (click here to learn about our partner’s work)

The political war at São Paulo, aimed at the election dispute later this year, gained new chapters this Thursday (23), with president Harry Massis Júnior formally filing a request to expel from the club the president of the Deliberative Council, Olten Ayres de Abreu Júnior.

The information was first reported by UOL and confirmed to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR by sources from São Paulo’s top leadership.

Massis’s claim is one of reckless management, and the filing will be reviewed by the body’s ethics committee, which is responsible for determining whether there are grounds for punishment.

The central point of the document involves the handling of a legal opinion related to changing the quorum for bylaw amendments, a topic that includes discussions about the possibility of implementing a SAF at the club.

According to the petition, Olten allegedly violated the bylaws by failing to forward to the Council an opinion from the legislative committee, which had opposed the review request made in December by then-president Júlio Casares.

The interpretation presented is that, regardless of its content, the document should have been formally submitted to the council members, which did not happen.

At the end of last month, Olten had announced the creation of a new committee tasked with discussing proposals to amend the bylaws, with a deadline of May 15 set for suggestions.

Speaking to the outlet, Olten challenged the move and attributed the request to internal disputes. “The legislative committee’s opinion had to be issued within thirty days and, shortly after the bylaw reform committee was appointed and three months after the deadline had expired, an opinion was submitted not on the content of the reform request, but with broader content, opposing any kind of reform. So, because the opinion was submitted late, it was not accepted but returned to the committee. Then, a new committee was appointed,” he said.

The disagreements between Massis and Olten go back to the vote on Casares’s impeachment in January and include the Council leader’s view that São Paulo’s president did not help defend former allies. There is also a succession dispute, since Olten was said to have plans to run for president. To the outlet Arquibancada Tricolor, the Council leader said he will not be a candidate.

Things got to the point that Olten and his political group voted against some of Massis’s proposals in the Council, such as the 2025 financial statements, which were rejected by the body.

The peak of the clash between the two came in February, when Olten forwarded to the Board of Directors an unconfirmed complaint against Massis involving his daughter and the resale of tickets for shows at Morumbi.

Olten’s move was even seen as an attempted power grab, since if Massis is removed from office, Olten would be the one to take over the presidency.

However, on the same day as the Board of Directors meeting (a group made up of former presidents and notable members), a complaint surfaced involving the son of a friend of Olten, who was selling access online to the Councilors’ box at São Paulo’s stadium for matches, even referring to Casares’s ally as “uncle” in a leaked audio recording.

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