Olten faces fresh expulsion bid at Ethics Committee over ‘car gate’ | OneFootball

The president of São Paulo’s Deliberative Council, Olten Ayres de Abreu Júnior, has become the target of a new complaint before the club’s Ethics Committee.

A group of members and councilors filed a request to open disciplinary proceedings seeking his expulsion from the club’s membership rolls. The complaint points to alleged irregularities and misconduct in the management of expenses related to an institutional vehicle under his responsibility.

The filing is based on an ESPN report from earlier this month, which revealed spending of more than R$100,000 borne by São Paulo and automaker Volvo Car Brasil in connection with the car assigned to the executive. During the period it was in the possession of the Council president, the vehicle racked up 171 traffic violations, in addition to corrective maintenance expenses and administrative costs.

The signatories of the request argue that the seriousness of the facts demands a rigorous investigation, since they involve the head of the body charged with overseeing compliance with the bylaws and safeguarding the club’s assets.

Attached to the complaint were internal documents obtained by the councilors, such as a repair shop estimate totaling R$23,116.80, a purchase order issued by São Paulo itself to cover the services, and records of corporate emails discussing the repairs.

For the authors, the situation goes beyond mere administrative misalignment and may amount to a breach of decorum and a violation of the statutory duties of loyalty to the institution.

History of proceedings and a razor-thin vote

This is the second serious complaint faced by the head of the tricolor club’s legislative branch before the disciplinary committee. Abreu is already the subject of an internal proceeding opened to investigate alleged violations of São Paulo’s bylaws during meetings of the committee responsible for drafting the entity’s latest bylaws reform.

In that first case, the Ethics Committee found sufficient indications to recommend the executive’s precautionary removal from the presidency of the Council until the investigation is concluded. The recommendation was submitted to the plenary and rejected in one of the most polarized votes in the club’s recent history: by 120 votes to 118, the councilors chose to keep the president in office.

The executive’s response

Asked to comment, Abreu said he received the new notice with “absolute calm,” describing the arguments as rehashes of facts that have already been discussed publicly.

In an official statement sent to the press, the executive clarified that the car in question was made available to the organization through a regular commercial sponsorship or partnership agreement signed between the club and Volvo Car Brasil. According to him, any analysis of the case should be based strictly on the civil liability clauses set out in the fleet lease or loan agreement.

The executive rejected claims that he obtained personal benefit or squandered São Paulo’s assets, asserting that accusations of this magnitude require individualization and strong material evidence. The defense challenged the validity of the overall figures presented by the complainants.

“Reference to overall figures and consolidated amounts does not replace the need for specific proof of the alleged facts, especially when the aim is to assign personal responsibility or alleged individual benefits,” says one excerpt from the statement.

To support his version and counter the report of 171 violations, Olten provided a certificate of no outstanding debts issued by the State Department of Transit (Detran), attesting that no traffic penalties or fines have been recorded on his National Driver’s License (CNH) since 2021. The document will be formally attached to his technical defense filing before the Council.

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