Corinthians board launches inquiry into leak of strategic information | OneFootball

The leak of strategic information related to Corinthians’ commercial negotiations has come under review by the club’s Deliberative Council. On Tuesday (17th), the president of the body, Romeu Tuma Júnior, announced the opening of an investigation process to look into the improper disclosure of sensitive data linked to negotiations for a new ticketing contract, which involves ticket sales operations and management of the Fiel Torcedor Program.

According to the statement sent to the press, the procedure will be initiated this Wednesday (18th) and will involve the Justice and Ethics Committees of the Deliberative Council. The aim, according to Tuma, is “to clarify in a technical and objective manner the origin and circumstances of the improper disclosure of strategic information,” in order to preserve the club’s institutional interests, the security of internal processes, and the integrity of ongoing negotiations.

Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Agência Corinthians

The Council’s statement comes days after Central do Timão exclusively revealed that the technology director Marcelo Munhoes formally reported, last Thursday (12th), an internal communication reporting the leak of information classified as strategic and confidential. According to the executive, the data made public was restricted to senior management and professionals bound by confidentiality obligations.

Munhoes’ communication was prompted by reports published by the portal ge.globo on the 10th and 11th, which detailed proposals submitted by the companies Ticketmaster and Ingresse to take over the ticketing operation and the Fiel Torcedor Program. The day after the first publication, the same outlet reported that Ticketmaster had withdrawn its proposal—a fact that, according to Munhoes, was still restricted to the internal decision-making environment. The director also noted that the formal withdrawal document did not pass through him and that he learned of the episode through the press.

In the view of the head of technology, the accuracy of the published data indicates that strategic information, still under negotiation, may have been shared improperly. In light of this, the director formally requested that the club’s presidency, legal department, compliance, and DPO (Data Protection Officer) take immediate action, including the initiation of an investigation, preservation of records and logs, analysis of possible functional, civil, or disciplinary responsibilities, and, if necessary, referral of the case to the appropriate authorities.

Negotiations and Departures in the Department

Negotiations with Ticketmaster and Ingresse were being conducted directly by the Directorate of Expansion, Innovation, and New Business, led by Herói Vicente. A few days before the leak, on February 7th, department volunteer Thiago Lima formally resigned from his activities in the area via email.

The message was sent to Herói Vicente, with copies to president Osmar Stabile, marketing superintendent Vinícius Manfredi de Azevedo, technology director Marcelo Munhoes, Neo Química Arena operations manager Ricardo Okabe, and the club’s financial manager André Lavieri.

In the email, which Central do Timão had access to, Thiago Lima stated that he had already considered leaving the position previously and justified his departure due to the “turbulent political moment” the club was experiencing. The former collaborator also made direct reference to the Ticketmaster proposal, emphasizing that there was, during the negotiations, “no kind of collusion” or intent to harm the IT Department, and argued that, from then on, the technical analysis of the proposals should be conducted independently by the technology area.

In another section, the then-collaborator stated that Ticketmaster itself had expressed concern about the club’s political scenario, even considering withdrawing its proposal before any technical deep dive.

Next Steps

With the opening of the process in the Deliberative Council, the case will also be analyzed from the perspective of statutory mechanisms for internal control and accountability. The involvement of the Justice and Ethics Committees indicates that the episode may involve not only identifying the source of the leak but also verifying possible disciplinary and functional infractions.

The expectation is that the Justice and Ethics Committees will conduct information gathering, document analysis, and interviews to clarify whether there was a breach of confidentiality duties, violation of governance protocols, or other responsibilities in the episode that exposed details of ongoing negotiations to the public.

So far, Corinthians’ management has not officially commented on the case. The Deliberative Council stated that further clarification will be provided in due course, after the proper investigation of the facts.

Read the full statement released by the Presidency of the Corinthians Deliberative Council:

The President of the Deliberative Council of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, Romeu Tuma Júnior, will open this Wednesday (18th) an investigation into the leak of information related to negotiations involving an alleged company interested in negotiating a new ticketing contract with Corinthians. The investigation will involve the work of the Justice and Ethics Committees of the Deliberative Council, and all those involved in the aforementioned negotiations will be heard.

The initiative seeks to clarify in a technical and objective manner the origin and circumstances of the improper disclosure of strategic information, preserving the club’s institutional interests, the security of internal processes, and the integrity of ongoing commercial negotiations.

The Deliberative Council reaffirms its commitment to transparency, responsibility in conducting internal procedures, and the protection of the institution’s sensitive information.

Further clarification will be provided in due course, after the proper collection of information.

Sincerely,

Romeu Tuma JúniorPresident of the Deliberative Council of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

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