Bombshell at São Januário: Longo quits over grave issue at Vasco SAF | OneFootball

The turbulent political and legal landscape surrounding Vasco da Gama football suffered a drastic blow on the night of Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Lawyer Samantha Mendes Longo officially filed her resignation as judicial intervenor of Vasco SAF, just six days after signing the commitment term to take over the temporary command of the corporate structure of Cruz-Maltino football.

In the withdrawal petition submitted to the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro, the professional justified her immediate departure by alleging the occurrence of a serious incident directly related to her personal safety.

The announcement of her departure came just hours after leaders of the organized supporter groups Força Jovem, Guerreiros do Almirante, Ira Jovem and Mancha Negra went to the company’s administrative headquarters seeking explanations about the management, where they found that the judicial administrator was not present and had been informed by employees that she had only come to the workplace on a single day. On that occasion, frustrated by her absence, the presidents of the supporter groups promised they would find a way to contact her and return the next day or try other addresses to get answers.

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Technical assessment and structural failures at Vasco SAF

Despite formalizing her sudden departure, the now former intervenor attached to the case a technical report containing the first conclusions gathered during her brief time in the sports company’s offices. The document brought severe criticisms of the administrative model adopted at Colina Histórica, identifying serious corporate governance failures and an excess of informality in the records and minutes of meetings organized by the Board of Directors.

The lawyer pointed out that there is a pressing and urgent need for the company to increase its levels of internal transparency and regularize tax procedures. On the other hand, the report notes that the football Executive Board, headed by Admar Lopes and CEO Fred Luz, continues to work and manage the department’s routine normally, with no operational interruptions in market planning or in the day-to-day of the player group.

Mediation proposal and next steps

As a final recommendation to protect Cruz-Maltino assets, Samantha Longo argued in the document for the immediate opening of a large-scale legal mediation panel involving representatives of Vasco da Gama, executives from 777 Partners, and potential investors interested in acquiring the football shares. The aim of the committee would be to craft a peaceful and definitive solution to make the sale of the company viable under the terms provided for in the Judicial Recovery process.

From now on, it will be up to the Judiciary to evaluate the approval of the lawyer’s resignation request and determine which professional will take on the complex role of judicial manager of the SAF. The atmosphere at Colina Histórica remains under heavy tension, while the association’s legal department awaits the judgment of the interlocutory appeal in the second instance in an attempt to return full control of football to president Pedrinho.

Samantha Longo leaves the intervention at Vasco SAF – Photo: Sérgio Rangel

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