Corinthians chief on Hugo Souza abuse, Paulistão semi, fan split, signings

In partnership with

Central do Timão

·24 febbraio 2026

Corinthians chief on Hugo Souza abuse, Paulistão semi, fan split, signings

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

On the afternoon of this Monday (23rd), at the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF), the technical council for the semifinals of the Paulista Championship took place. It is worth remembering that Corinthians will face Novorizontino next Saturday (28th) at 8:30 PM (Brasília time) at the Jorge Ismael de Biasi Stadium. The Alvinegro was the team that scored the fewest points among the four remaining in the tournament and, therefore, will play away from home.

At the event, the football executive, Marcelo Paz, represented Alvinegro and was questioned about the racism incident involving goalkeeper Hugo Souza. The number 1 suffered racist insults from two Portuguesa fans after Corinthians' qualification over the Canindé team, in the penalty shootout, in the state quarterfinals.

OneFootball Video

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

“I will start with what I think is most important, which is to repudiate what happened yesterday with Hugo Souza, right? I think it cannot be tolerated, it cannot be called an isolated case. Those people, not the institution, not the Portuguesa fans, but those people who committed a reprehensible act against Hugo, they deserve the appropriate punishments, because this is didactic, pedagogical, and Hugo does not deserve it, no one deserves it”, he began.

Then, the executive highlighted the support Corinthians has been giving to the goalkeeper and sought the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF) demanding actions: “So, we have already contacted the São Paulo Federation about this, Portuguesa has also issued a note repudiating the situation. If Hugo wishes to proceed with the police procedure, whatever it may be, we will give him all the support, it cannot be accepted, it cannot be tolerated. And I know that society today no longer accepts this type of situation and even if it did, we would not accept it. So, unfortunately, we have to be talking about this. When we had a great game. I went to Canindé for the first time, I had never been to Canindé, Portuguesa had never met Fortaleza, right? I don't know if you know about my history with Fortaleza.”

“And now here with Corinthians, I went to Canindé and was very well received, historic stadium, super kind Portuguesa directors, a great game, Portuguesa played a great game. But the strength of Corinthians prevailed there, right? The grit, the strategy, right? The bench that came in and helped, it was clean, and Vitinho's great goal and then not only Hugo's star, right? Who saved the penalties, but all our shooters were also competent. A great duel, the whole of Brazil watched and it's good that we advanced to the next stage,” he continued.

Later, he commented on his expectations for the Paulista Championship semifinal, against Novorizontino, away from home, next Saturday (28th). The executive praised the quality, structure, and recent work of the Novo Horizonte team, which has been close to achieving promotion to the national first division in recent years.

Marcelo also emphasized that Corinthians would have liked the match to take place on Sunday, citing the short rest time for the team at the start of the season, but mentioned that the date is aligned with the tournament's broadcasting rights holders. Paz also said that Novorizontino agreed to potentially hold the match on Sunday.

“And now Novorizontino, a great team, very well trained, well-structured, everything works there at Novorizontino, structure, timely payments, athlete recovery, good squad, the team that has been knocking on the door in Serie B for several years trying to move up, they didn't get there by chance, they got there by merit, they beat Palmeiras during the first phase, they beat Santos yesterday with merit as well. So, a difficult game we will have. Unfortunately, on Saturday, we wanted it to be on Sunday. We wanted it to be on Sunday because Corinthians has been resting only three days from one game to another since the match against Athletico-PR, which is not ideal rest. The ideal recovery rest is from the fourth day, then you have a complete recovery of the player who has been playing, four days later he is fit to play again. Three days is not good, so we went, it was three days from the Paraná match to this Portuguesa game, it will be three days from Portuguesa to Cruzeiro and only three days from Cruzeiro to the semifinal.”

“So it wouldn't cause technical damage in terms of rest, recovery. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible, due to commercial, contractual reasons, and it's not a criticism, the federation never, the federation does what is possible, but there are contracts, the rights holders chose one game on Saturday, one game on Sunday, they chose which game to do, and unfortunately, there will be this situation that Nova Horizonte itself. Didn't agree to play on Sunday, in the meeting that took place recently, Novorizontino also wanted to play on Sunday, they don't know, but it wasn't possible with the rights holders' issue, and we respect that, but I have to say that it generates technical damage. And a great game that will be there, that we can use our strength, our competence, the planning, to maybe reach another final,” he added.

Soon after, he was questioned about Corinthians' search in the market, specifically for a defender, after the loan of defender Cacá to Vitória. Currently, Alvinegro has Gustavo Henrique, Gabriel Paulista, André Ramalho, and João Pedro Thoca for the position. Besides them, Iago Machado, 17 years old, and one of the main promises from the Corinthians base, has been training with the professional squad.

So far, six reinforcements have been signed: defender Gabriel Paulista, right-back Pedro Milans, midfielder Allan, midfielder Matheus Pereira, midfielder Zacaria Labyad, and forward Kaio César. All of these came on loan or free in the market.

“I don't see the defense as a lacking sector. I don't see it. We have four good defenders. There is Raniele who can play as a defender if needed. And there is Iago who came from the base, who is permanently training as a professional. At some point, Dorival will launch him with a lot of patience, without any kind of anxiety to launch the boy. I don't see it as a lacking sector. It's what I said. As long as the window is open, there can be signings. There can be market movement. This is natural.“

“Always with the aim of qualifying our team. We have been doing this work of qualification, giving more options to Dorival, providing more pieces, even to be able to face this routine of playing every three days and every four days with high performance. This is our work. There is also a budget limitation. Money is not infinite. So we have to balance all this, but as long as the window is open, we will be attentive.”

Next, he responded about the division of tickets for Corinthians fans in Novo Horizonte, emphasizing that this is an institutional matter. In the quarterfinals, against Portuguesa, the Fiel had access to 7,500 tickets, just like the opponents.

“And this conversation is more handled by the game operation staff who deal with the number of fans, the accesses. I am sure there will be a brief understanding, as there was with Portuguesa, which also had the greatness to divide the stadium, I think that was nice and the spectacle was very beautiful for that. I hope there in Novo Horizonte, I know there will be a lot of fans, if there are eleven thousand places for Corinthians, the fans will fill it. Of course, it won't be like that, Novo Horizonte won't do that, but our very competent game operation sector is certainly dealing with this.”

Marcelo Paz also detailed his opinion regarding the debate about the possible end of single fans in the State of São Paulo. Since 2016, by determination of the MP-SP, the classics between the main teams in the state occur only with fans of the home team, unlike other federations. Last Sunday (22nd), before the quarterfinal match of the Paulistão, Corinthians and Portuguesa carried out an action for the end of such a measure, which has lasted almost ten years.

Throughout his response, the Corinthians executive recalled the classics between Ceará and Fortaleza, when he was a director of Leão do Picci.

“I don't enter this area. On a personal level, I think football gains a lot when there is a classic with two fans. The spectacle, the game is different when there are two fans. I experienced this a lot in the Northeast. Classics between Fortaleza and Ceará have always been such a spectacle, amazing. Before the game started, the fans were already dueling in a good sense. Which mosaic is more beautiful, which party is more beautiful, balloons and such. So this brings more appeal to the television audience, to those who are fans. So I am a fan, but I don't feel qualified to talk about public safety. Here in the State of São Paulo, there is a prohibition, because there must be some history. However, if we can move towards evolution even culturally, in people's behavior to have the public of both, of both teams, right?“

“I think it is a victory for society, football wins and society wins. But those who can best say this are the competent authorities who determined it and, perhaps, can review this issue. And, obviously, the fact that people are organized by Corinthians and Portuguesa and make this movement shows what? Maturity. It shows greatness, it shows a desire to do something. And, from there, good examples must come, right? Because I believe there are no two fans today due to violence. So this must be avoided, it must be barred. There are gestures from both sides that show that it is possible to have both fans in the stadium and I think football wins and so does everything in society,” he explained.

Finally, he detailed the situation of midfielder Alex Santana. The midfielder was signed by Corinthians in mid-2024, from Athletico-PR, being important in the team's surge in the Brasileirão that year (from Z4 to the Pré-Libertadores of 2025) and being part of the team that won the Paulistão 2025, against Palmeiras. He also played in the debut match of the Copa do Brasil title campaign last year, against Novorizontino.

However, precisely after the arrival of Dorival Júnior, at the end of April last year, he lost space in the squad and ended up being loaned to Grêmio for the rest of 2025. There, he didn't have much continuity and played only 10 times. With a contract until 2027 with Corinthians, Alex Santana returned to CT Dr. Joaquim Grava at the beginning of 2026 but, as it seems, he should not stay at the club – he is training separately from the squad. With the Corinthians shirt, he scored two goals in 37 games.

“He should move to another club, he is an athlete we respect a lot, who has a history in Brazilian football, but at the moment he should not be part of Corinthians' plans and naturally the tendency is for him to go to another club“, he concluded.

See More: