Destroyed: São Paulo board expels Dedé from club's social section | OneFootball

São Paulo's Deliberative Council approved, in a vote concluded this Tuesday (14), the permanent expulsion of Antonio Donizeti Gonçalves, known as Dedé, from the institution’s membership rolls.

The former social director and lifetime council member is the target of investigations conducted by the Civil Police and the São Paulo State Public Prosecutor’s Office into alleged irregularities in contracts with FGoal, the former food and beverage concessionaire at Morumbi Stadium.

The body’s decision, which received 192 votes in favor, represents a harsher punishment than the one initially suggested by the club’s Ethics Committee. The prior opinion recommended a 120-day suspension — based on a 90-day ban for damage to the institution’s image, plus an additional third because the accused was part of the executive board at the time of the events.

However, the full Council opted for the maximum penalty of expulsion, based on the seriousness of the indications of reckless management, financial losses, and damage to the club’s image.

Origin of the investigations and contract termination

The police inquiry and the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation focus on the execution of the contract between São Paulo and FGoal, which held the concession to operate the food and beverage sector on match days and at events.

Financial irregularities: The club claims that FGoal carried out financial transactions considered irregular through the card payment system operated at the social headquarters.

Termination of the relationship: In light of inconsistencies identified internally, São Paulo unilaterally terminated its contract with FGoal in February of this year. The agreement, which was originally set to expire in 2029, was ended, and GSH was hired to take over the service.

Defense of the concessionaire and the former director’s position

FGoal disputes the fraud allegations and maintains that all of its financial and operational transactions had the formal approval of the social department’s management. In a legal filing attached to one of the lawsuits brought against São Paulo, the company submitted a letter signed by Antonio Donizeti Gonçalves.

In the document, the former executive states that he verbally authorized, together with members of the financial board at the time, the installation of FGoal’s infrastructure at the social headquarters. According to the defense presented:

FGoal allegedly assumed transition and installation costs estimated at R$ 395,000;

Reimbursement of these costs would be made through direct deductions from the club’s payment platform transactions;

São Paulo’s finance department had unrestricted access to reconciliation reports and cash flow, whose main purpose was to pay suppliers.

Next steps and legal cooperation

São Paulo stated that it continues to actively cooperate with the police authorities and the Public Prosecutor’s Office as an interested party and potential victim of financial loss.

The Deliberative Council’s decision exhausts the club’s administrative sphere and ends Antonio Donizeti Gonçalves’s ties with the institution, independently of the progress and outcome of the civil actions and the criminal investigation in the ordinary courts.

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