São Paulo votes on Julio Casares impeachment, follow live! | OneFootball

The Deliberative Council of São Paulo votes this Friday on the impeachment of president Julio Casares. Follow the developments at Morumbi in real-time!

See also: Understand how the impeachment vote of Casares at São Paulo will be All news from Gazeta Esportiva Gazeta Esportiva's YouTube Channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram

There will be a vote!

A total of 223 councilors attended the meeting. The minimum quorum was reached, therefore, the impeachment vote of Julio Casares will take place.

Counting the attendees

The councilors are currently gathered in the noble hall of Morumbi. The count of attendees is being conducted, both in-person and virtually, to determine if there is sufficient quorum to start the vote. Remember: a minimum of 191 councilors is required.

Fan protests

While the councilors gather in the noble hall, São Paulo fans are making noise outside Morumbi. Several banners against president Julio Casares have been displayed. Some of the main chants are: “Out Casares” and “If the Council doesn't vote, olê olê olá, things will get rough”.

(Photo: André Costa/Gazeta Press)

Meeting starting

The São Paulo councilors have already entered the noble hall of Morumbi. Alongside his lawyers, Julio Casares is already present at the meeting that will discuss his impeachment.

(Photo: André Costa/Gazeta Press)

How will it work?

The vote in the Council will be completely secret and has undergone changes since the beginning of the process. Initially, the vote would be conducted entirely in-person, and for the approval of Casares' impeachment, based on article 112 of the club's Social Statute, two-thirds of the councilors would be needed — that is, 171 of the 254 eligible members.

On January 8, however, Julio Casares' defense presented an interpretation to Olten Ayres, president of the Deliberative Council, based on article 58, indicating that 75% of the councilors' votes would be required for the removal to be accepted (191 of the 254 members). The request for change was accepted by the CD's leader, who held a press conference and justified the changes.

In this scenario, a group of councilors went to court and filed a lawsuit to promote changes in the quorum necessary for the approval of the impeachment and also in the format of the meeting. In a decision issued by the 3rd Civil Court of Butantã, the injunction was accepted and determined that the vote be conducted in a hybrid manner, with in-person or virtual votes.

Additionally, the judge responsible for the decision also understood that 75% of the councilors (191 councilors) are needed for the meeting to take place, but the impeachment can be approved with the favorable votes of two-thirds of the councilors (171), as it would be before the CD accepted Casares' defense request. São Paulo tried to appeal, but the injunction was upheld by the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP).

If the São Paulo Council approves Casares' impeachment, the president will be immediately removed from office, which will be assumed by Harry Massis Júnior, the club's first vice-president. Conversely, if the removal does not pass in the CD, the case will be closed.

Possible next steps

If the Deliberative Council gives a positive opinion on Casares' impeachment, Olten Ayres, the body's president, will have to set a date for the General Assembly of Members, which is the last instance of the removal process and involves the club's members.

In this scenario, Casares would remain suspended from his duties until the final result of the General Assembly is announced. If the members endorse that he should leave office, the leader will be definitively removed. On the other hand, if the members are against the removal, he returns to the presidential chair normally.

Consequences

If Casares is definitively removed from the presidency after the General Assembly of Members, he will lose the remainder of the term, which would last until the end of 2026. However, he would remain a club member and be eligible to run for any other position in a future election.

Who would assume the presidency?

With the possible impeachment of a president, the vice-president of the current administration immediately assumes the role, according to the club's Social Statute. In this case, with the potential removal of Julio Casares, the immediate successor is vice-president Harry Massis Júnior, who has held the position since 2021.

According to São Paulo's Statute, Massis Jr. would remain in the club until the end of the term of the president who was removed. That is, the new president would lead the Tricolor until the end of 2026.

Harry Massis Júnior, 80 years old, is a businessman and has been a member of São Paulo since 1964. A lifetime councilor of the club, he has held various roles at Tricolor. Between 2001 and 2002, for example, he served as assistant director of football. He was also assistant administrative director between 1992 and 1993.

The reasons

Julio Casares' administration at São Paulo is experiencing its most turbulent period. In light of recent scandals reported by the press and investigations opened by the Civil Police, the “Salve o Tricolor Paulista” group of councilors filed the impeachment request against the president based on articles 63, 79, and 112 of the club's Social Statute.

The political group gathered 57 councilor signatures. Additionally, the opponents disclosed that of this amount, 13 are political actors considered to be part of the situation. In other words, former allies of Julio Casares are changing sides in the Tricolor political board.

The chronology

The political pressure on Casares began to grow on December 16, 2025, with the revelation of an illegal ticket sales scheme for shows in a Morumbi box, reported by ge. Mara Casares, São Paulo's female, cultural, and events director and ex-wife of the Tricolor president, and Douglas Schwartzmann, assistant director of youth football, were named and requested leave from their respective positions. The Civil Police opened an inquiry to investigate the case.

Shortly after, on December 22, UOL revealed that the Civil Police is also investigating a suspected money diversion scheme in athlete sales, initiated in 2021, when Casares' administration began. It was after this scandal that the opposition councilors decided to file the impeachment request against the Tricolor leader.

On January 6 of this year, the Civil Police identified suspicious transactions related to Julio Casares, pointed out by reports from Coaf (Financial Activities Control Council). The president of São Paulo allegedly received R$ 1.5 million in cash deposits into his checking account between January 2023 and May 2025, during his administration of Tricolor. In an official statement, the leader's lawyers dismissed any irregularities.

Additionally, 35 cash withdrawals from the club's accounts were identified between 2021 and 2025, totaling R$ 11 million. In this scenario, the Civil Police began investigating Nelson Marques Ferreira, former assistant director of football, who allegedly opened 15 companies during his tenure at the club, as revealed by Fantástico. Authorities are trying to understand if there is any connection between the company openings and possible money diversions.

On the last Thursday, a day before the impeachment vote, the São Paulo State Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-SP) opened a civil inquiry to investigate possible reckless management at São Paulo, with indications of asset dissipation, misuse of purpose, favoritism to third parties or relatives of directors, and potential irregular use of public resources or tax benefits.

To gather information, the agency listed several names and entities that may be summoned to provide information and clarifications. The list includes Julio Casares, president of São Paulo, and members of the club's board, as well as Samir Xaud, president of the CBF, and Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, president of the Paulista Football Federation (FPF).

Loss of support

After the scandals, Casares lost the support of the fans. The main organized groups of São Paulo — Independente and Dragões da Real — have already expressed themselves for the first time strongly demanding the resignation of Julio Casares.

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