Rozallah to run for Corinthians president, backed by Melo dissidents | OneFootball

The next presidential election for Corinthians is scheduled for the end of next year, and potential candidates are already maneuvering behind the scenes at Parque São Jorge to garner support. One of them is Rozallah Santoro, a triennial counselor and financial director of the club during Augusto Melo's administration.

As reported by Gazeta Esportiva, Rozallah, who is currently a consultant for the financial department of the board presided over by Osmar Stabile, intends to launch a candidacy for the election scheduled for 2026. He may also receive support from other former directors who also participated in Augusto's term: Pedro Silveira and Vinicius Cascone.

Pedro Silveira was also a financial director during the last administration. He even succeeded Rozallah in the position. The director was one of the responsible for the hiring of Memphis Depay and was seen as a "link" of the Dutchman with the old board.

Cascone, on the other hand, served as general secretary and legal director of Corinthians during Augusto Melo's term. He was dismissed along with the impeachment suffered by the former president.

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Seeking support

According to information obtained by the report, Silveira and Cascone are willing to give support to Rozallah in search of the support of other wings of the club. The former directors, with influence behind the scenes, try to convince the members that Rozallah is the best alternative in the face of the polarized scenario that has been created recently between supporters and opponents of Augusto Melo.

Rojas Case

Rozallah and Augusto Melo have already had disagreements at Corinthians. The trigger for the conflict is the case involving Paraguayan midfielder Matías Rojas.

Hired at the beginning of 2024, the player unilaterally terminated his contract after delays in payments, taking Corinthians to FIFA. The conviction resulted in a fine of over R$ 40 million.

According to Augusto Melo, Rozallah would have been negligent in financial management, ignoring notifications and allowing the debt, which amounted to R$ 1.36 million plus US$ 43 thousand, not to be paid on time, even with available balance in cash. He even asked for Rozallah's expulsion from the social framework.

However, the former director presents a completely different version. He claims that the president was fully aware of the situation and chose, deliberately, to allocate the resources for another purpose: the termination fine of coach Antônio Oliveira, with Cuiabá.

(Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians)

VaideBet Case

The Ethics Committee of Corinthians is also investigating a possible omission by Rozallah Santoro in the VaideBet case. He was the club's financial director at the time of the transfer of R$ 1.4 million from the club to Rede Social Media Design LTDA, pointed out as an intermediary of the contract with the betting house.

Rozallah claims he was traveling at the time and was not aware of the payment. The Ethics Committee will soon issue an opinion to the Deliberative Council on the conduct of the then director in this case, which will later be voted on in the CD plenary and could even lead to his expulsion from the club. The candidacy, therefore, still depends on the decision to be made by Timão's internal bodies.

It is worth remembering that Santoro is a member of the 82 (Movimento Corinthians Grande) ticket, the same political group as Armando Mendonça, current vice-president of Corinthians and who also has not ruled out a candidacy for 2026. In this case, the tendency would be for Rozallah to leave the group to run for election.

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