Blocked from Council, Corinthians vice slams Andrés Sanchez expulsion | OneFootball

Corinthians’ Deliberative Council approved, on Monday night (25), the expulsion of former president Andrés Sanchez from the club’s membership. The decision was made at a meeting held at Parque São Jorge, prompted by the improper use of a corporate card for personal expenses.

The session was restricted to members of the Deliberative Council, according to a statement previously released by the body’s acting president, Leonardo Pantaleão. Members of the executive board were not authorized to attend the meeting. Despite the order, Corinthians vice president Armando Mendonça went to the club’s amphitheater and tried to follow the session, but was later asked to leave.

Photo: Central do Timão

As he left the venue, Armando spoke to the press and criticized the way Leonardo Pantaleão handled the process, as well as questioning the ban on the board’s presence at the meeting.

“Today is an important day in Corinthians’ history, a milestone for the club’s politics. As in all Deliberative Council meetings, in which the board has always been present, I attended, including out of respect for the Bylaws and Internal Regulations. In the notice there was an item prohibiting the board’s presence, and I went to question where that was provided for in the Bylaws. Some opposition councilors agreed with his position, and I left the meeting,” the official said.

Armando Mendonça also described the measure as disrespectful to the institution, emphasizing that president Osmar Stabile is on an official trip to Rio de Janeiro, taking part in commitments at the CBF.

“As vice president, representing Corinthians today, I consider this disrespectful to the institution and the club’s history. Never, in Corinthians’ history, has a president or vice president been barred from attending a Deliberative Council meeting, especially one as important as this,” he said.

The official also criticized the accumulation of roles held by Leonardo Pantaleão, who currently chairs both the Deliberative Council and Corinthians’ Ethics Committee.

“Maybe he does not understand why the Bylaws determine that the vice president of the Deliberative Council must also be the president of the Ethics Committee. This is not statutory nitpicking. Unfortunately, he holds multiple roles, takes drastic and non-republican actions (…) I think this is a moment—I have always said this, since the beginning of our administration—I think these are the three years in which Corinthians has experienced the greatest institutional crisis in its history,” Armando said.

Asked whether he had been instructed by president Osmar Stabile to follow the session, the vice president confirmed that he had. “It was a request from the president. I have always attended Deliberative Council meetings,” he said.

Armando also again criticized Pantaleão for acting simultaneously in conducting disciplinary proceedings and presiding over the judging body. “Today he decides who judges, how they judge, in what way they judge, and when they judge. I think I’ve seen this before,” he said.

Leonardo Pantaleão, in turn, denied any conflict of interest in conducting the session. Although he had acted as rapporteur of the investigation on the Ethics Committee before Romeu Tuma Júnior took leave from the presidency of the Council, Pantaleão argued that, as president of the body, he did not exercise voting rights at Monday’s meeting.

Armando Mendonça was also asked what his position would have been if he had had the right to vote at the session. Directly, the official said he would have voted in favor of Andrés Sanchez’s expulsion.

The vice president also commented on the disciplinary proceeding in which he is mentioned in the case involving the alleged diversion of the club’s sporting goods. When asked whether he believes there are grounds to claim procedural nullity, he preferred to leave that analysis to his defense.

“I’ll leave that to my lawyer, Dr. Sérgio Alvarenga, who is handling it. I’m very calm. The Justice Committee issued an opinion, but it is not binding. The opinion only forwards the case to the Ethics Committee to carry out the proper investigation,” he concluded.

At the end of the vote, of the 167 councilors present, 112 voted in favor of Andrés Sanchez’s expulsion, while 49 were against the measure. Six abstentions were also recorded.

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