São Paulo opt for fine, keep Arboleda until next window | OneFootball

At a meeting held this Monday (4) at CT da Barra Funda, São Paulo’s board formally reprimanded center-back Arboleda and announced the application of a fine.

The player, who had been missing for about a month after failing to report for the match against Cruzeiro, is unlikely to play for the club again.

As immediate punishment, Tricolor will deduct the days of absence from the Ecuadorian’s salary, but other financial sanctions are still being considered.

The defined schedule provides that Arboleda will undergo medical exams and fitness tests to check for possible injuries. If he is fit, he will begin a reconditioning program at alternative times, remaining apart from the rest of the squad.

The goal of the Morumbi club is to force interested parties in the player to sit down and negotiate his release (Arboleda is under contract until the end of 2027). The message passed to Pepe Chamurro, the 34-year-old defender’s agent, is that there will be no opposition to his departure from Tricolor.

After exactly one month of being completely absent from São Paulo, Ecuadorian center-back Arboleda returned to Brazil this Monday (4) and headed to CT da Barra Funda to definitively resolve his future at the club.

There were several no-shows by the defender at Tricolor after he abandoned the club on April 3, before the Brasileirão match against Cruzeiro. He was expected by São Paulo on the 30th, but did not show up, irritating even his own agent, who guaranteed a resolution to the situation this week, according to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR.

The club tried in different ways to resolve the situation of its player, who has a valid and financially lucrative contract through the end of 2027. But only now does it finally seem like this saga will be settled.

Meanwhile, Arboleda was seen at parties and games, always appearing unconcerned about the situation in Ecuador. In Brazil, he has accumulated debts and court cases, and recently had his Porsche and bank accounts seized.

If he had not returned, starting this Monday (4) São Paulo could have gone to FIFA, demanding financial compensation (the fine of nearly R$ 600 million) and putting the defender’s career on hold.

In 2026 alone, the center-back had already accumulated four delays, including a late return for preseason and a trip to Ecuador during Carnival, but in all of those cases there was some kind of communication. This time, in addition to the initial silence, there was direct noncompliance with a match call-up, which changed the board’s stance. On the field, Arboleda had already been losing space, taking part in only 11 of the team’s 20 matches this season.

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