Injunction halts statute assembly, Corinthians Council chief takes leave | OneFootball

On the morning of this Monday (13), Corinthians announced, through an official statement, the suspension of the general assembly of members, scheduled for the 18th, which was set to vote on the bylaws reform. The decision comes in compliance with a court order, following a motion filed by one of the club’s councilors.

“Sport Club Corinthians Paulista informs all members that the assembly previously scheduled for the 18th has been suspended by court order, due to a motion filed by a club member.”

Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Agência Corinthians

The interruption of the process was confirmed on Monday morning by a decision from Judge Luis Fernando Nardelli, who accepted the request of councilor Felipe Legrazie Ezabella and granted an injunction suspending the holding of the assembly. 

In the ruling, which Central do Timão had access to, the judge points to signs of irregularities in the process of convening and handling the matter, which could compromise the validity of the deliberative acts and create legal uncertainty for the members.

The judge also highlights that holding the assembly under these conditions could cause institutional instability, especially given formal questions that have not yet been fully clarified. In this context, the suspension is seen as a necessary measure to avoid greater harm and preserve the regularity of the process until a more in-depth analysis of the merits.

In addition, the decision considers elements presented by the plaintiff and the club’s own position in the case, which ultimately aligned with the request for suspension. Thus, the judge concluded that, given the risk of harm and the legal plausibility of the allegations, interrupting the assembly is the most appropriate measure at this time.

The injunction is provisional and will remain valid until a new judicial ruling, after a deeper analysis of the case.

Council President takes leave after court decision

Following the decision that suspended the general assembly, Deliberative Council president Romeu Tuma Júnior announced an indefinite leave of absence from his position. In an official statement, the executive linked his temporary departure to the context of the injunction and the deadlock involving the vote on the bylaws reform.

In the statement, Tuma argues that his continued presence had been used as justification to make the assembly impossible and describes the scenario as the result of a political maneuver to prevent members from expressing themselves. 

The executive says that the decision to step aside seeks to remove obstacles to the progress of the process and allow the discussion of the new bylaws to move forward, defending the holding of the vote and the direct participation of the membership base.

What the councilor asked the courts for: suspension of the vote and annulment of the notice

In the lawsuit obtained by the report, councilor Felipe Ezabella, who is also acting as his own attorney, requested from the courts, on an urgent basis, the immediate suspension of the General Assembly scheduled for April 18, under the argument that the entire bylaws reform process was conducted in violation of the club’s Bylaws and the Internal Rules of the Deliberative Council. Among the requests detailed in the initial petition, the following stand out:

· Granting of urgent relief to prevent the assembly from being held until the merits are judged, given the risk of invalid deliberations and institutional instability.

· Service of process on Corinthians so it may present a defense, with formal notice to the club’s constituted bodies, especially the Presidency of the Deliberative Council.

· Final ruling in favor of the claim, with the annulment of the notice convening the General Assembly, recognizing the illegalities pointed out throughout the so-called “statutory legislative process.”

Ezabella alleges that the president of the Deliberative Council ended the meeting of the body under the false justification that the councilors “did not want to vote” and then took the proposal directly to a vote of the members, ignoring statutory rules that, in the plaintiff’s interpretation, required prior deliberation by the Council and by the Advisory Council (CORI).

Understand the case

The deadlock is part of the context of the bylaws reform being debated internally at the club since the beginning of 2024. On March 9 of this year, after dozens of public hearings to improve the project, councilors met at Parque São Jorge to vote on structural changes to the bylaws, including proposals such as expanding voting rights to fan members and the possibility of transforming the club into a Football Corporation (SAF). 

However, before the vote began, club president Osmar Stabile accused Tuma of interference in management and threats, triggering an atmosphere of high tension among the councilors. Given the climate of conflict, the session was initially suspended and later closed by Tuma, who invoked a statutory provision to send the proposal directly to the general assembly of members. The move, however, intensified the internal political crisis.

Days later, Stabile formally filed a complaint against Tuma with the Ethics and Discipline Committee and arranged for the Deliberative Council to be convened to deliberate on the executive’s precautionary removal. In an extraordinary meeting held on March 23, attended by 137 of the club’s 290 councilors, 115 voted for his removal.

The legality of this process, however, began to be questioned internally, including by members of the Council’s own presiding board, such as vice president Leonardo Pantaleão and first secretary Maria Angela Ocampos, who considered the notice irregular. Romeu Tuma Júnior also challenged the measure at the time and released an official statement in which he said he did not recognize the removal.

With the court decision, Corinthians’ bylaws reform process suffers another setback and remains unresolved, amid political disputes and questions over the club’s management, in an institutional crisis that has already even resulted in requests for judicial intervention at Parque São Jorge.

See more:

Corinthians News

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