Rafinha is São Paulo’s new football executive | OneFootball

Rafinha is São Paulo’s new football executive. The former player, 40, is leaving his role as sporting manager and will now definitively lead the department — a position he has already been performing since Rui Costa’s departure a little less than a month ago.

“I have been following Rafinha’s daily work since he took on this new responsibility. He was a great athlete and leader, and as sporting manager he added a lot. Now, in this new role, he has been doing a great job leading São Paulo’s football department, not only because of the experience he gained throughout his career, but also because of all his connections in the football world,” said president Harry Massis Junior.

“I see this new role as another challenge, and I feel very prepared. The experience I have here at São Paulo, both as a player and during this period as sporting manager, and everything I have lived through in more than 20 years in football give me a lot of confidence to lead the club’s sporting project. In addition, I have been working to improve myself through management courses. We have a very qualified team on and off the pitch, a great structure, and a lot of confidence in what lies ahead. Our task will always be to put São Paulo at the highest level together with our supporters, who are the most important part of this giant club,” said Rafinha.

Captain of Tricolor in the Copa do Brasil (2023) and Supercopa Rei (2024) title-winning campaigns, Rafinha ended his successful playing career last year at Coritiba and joined São Paulo’s board in January this year.

The new São Paulo executive is studying sports management at the DFB Akademie (German Football Association) and is also taking FIFA’s club management course.

Rafinha will have legal support from Felipe Carvalho, the club’s lawyer since 2020, who now takes on the role of sporting legal manager.

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