Official admits accounting error of about R$80m in Neo Química Arena fund | OneFootball

The new manager of Neo Química Arena’s real estate investment fund acknowledged the existence of a relevant accounting inconsistency, estimated between R$ 80 million and R$ 100 million, which affected the financial statements of the Arena Real Estate Investment Fund (Arena FII). According to the current management, work is already underway to correct the problem and regularize the stadium’s financial situation.

In an interview with UOL Esporte, the CEO of Asarock Asset Management, Gabriel Pupo, explained that erroneous records involving ticket revenue ended up inflating the fund’s balances for years. These amounts were recorded as if they were accounts receivable, although in practice they never entered the cash register, which generated inconsistencies pointed out by independent audits.

Photo: Mauro Horita/Getty Images)

According to the executive, the failure occurred in previous administrations, still under the responsibility of BRL Trust, the fund’s former manager. “It was something around eighty-some million. And it didn’t exist. There was no inflow of funds. It was an incorrect accounting entry,” Pupo said.

After BRL Trust’s departure, management passed to Reag, the company involved in the Banco Master scandal, before being taken over by Asarock. Despite this, the current manager guarantees that there is no indication whatsoever of irregularity involving the arena fund in this episode.

“In fact, nothing indicates that there is any contamination. It didn’t enter any investigation. This fund has always run clean. The contaminated funds were the ones that received injections. Sometimes unwittingly, they received money that was dirty or knew. Not a penny from Reag ever entered the club,” he declared.

The accounting problem, according to Pupo, is related to the recording of revenues that were never actually received. These values remained on the balance sheets over different fiscal years, without proper reconciliation, a situation that worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the arena’s operation was impacted. “The auditor would look, ask for a statement and the money wasn’t there. It was a significant difference,” he reported.

Documents obtained by UOL confirm that, for several years, high amounts were recorded as “accounts receivable” or “operating revenues receivable.” In December 2022, the amount reached R$ 99.54 million, practically maintained the following year, when it reached R$ 99.56 million.

The audit report referring to 2022 already indicated problems, pointing to the impossibility of confirming these values through external sources. The lack of sufficient evidence prevented an adequate evaluation, leading the audit to issue a qualified opinion.

After discussions involving the club, auditors and those responsible for the accounting, there was an understanding that the records were improper and would need adjustment. “The auditor understood that this entry was really made in error and agreed to write it off. But for that, it was necessary to reprocess previous years,” Pupo explained.

Subsequently, Asarock informed that the abrupt reduction of about R$ 100 million in accounts receivable between October and November 2025 occurred precisely because of this correction. The amounts had been posted erroneously after changes in the financial structure involving the Federal Cashier. Once it was found that the resources never entered the fund, the accounting write-off was made.

The records further show that these inconsistencies did not start in the pandemic. As early as 2016 to 2018 there were relevant values posted as accounts receivable. In 2017, for example, the balance was R$ 36.5 million, while in 2018 it appeared as R$ 28.3 million.

In subsequent years, these numbers gradually increased until they approached R$ 100 million, representing about 13% of the fund’s assets. This scenario compromised governance and hindered strategic operations, such as bringing in investors. “You can’t find a partner or investor with dirty books. With the auditor saying that something is wrong there,” the CEO stated.

The situation also generated operational instability, aggravated by Reag’s liquidation, which temporarily left the fund non-operational at the beginning of 2025. During this period, Corinthians had to advance resources to keep the arena’s activities going, amounts that should later be reimbursed.

Currently, the process of reviewing the financial statements for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 is underway. Management expects that, starting in 2026, the balance sheets will be presented without qualifications.

For that, the acting liquidator designated by the Central Bank for the former manager will be necessary, responsible for formalizing the corrections. “There is a commitment from the liquidator to deliver clean FSs. It’s on the record,” Pupo stressed.

With the data regularized, management believes the fund will have greater transparency, stability and safety for future decisions. Although he did not detail next steps, the manager said normalization opens room for new strategic moves.

Finally, current management reported that it intends to regularly disclose the fund’s information through a transparency portal, in addition to remaining available to clarify doubts about the Arena FII’s structure and numbers.

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