São Paulo president on Belmonte bid: "Too soon" | OneFootball

The backstage at Morumbis remains busy and, with the presidential elections approaching, political maneuvering is starting to take shape. This Friday, São Paulo announced the departures of directors Carlos Belmonte, Nelson Marques Ferreira, and Fernando Bracalle Ambrogi, all members of the football department.

Casares’ second term as São Paulo’s president ends at the end of 2026. When asked about his thoughts on a possible candidacy by Carlos Belmonte, who could go from ally to adversary, the São Paulo president dodged the question and said it’s still too early to think about elections.

“When you say the football director is a natural candidate, sometimes yes, sometimes no. I’m not against any candidacy, nor am I in favor of any. I just think it’s premature to talk about that now. We still have a year, a challenging process next year. We can’t talk about that yet. In March, we’ll discuss it, in June we’ll decide. And the decision will be made by a group of people who, for better or worse, have done a very good job. I want to thank the three directors who are leaving for their work,” he commented.

(Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @juliocasares_sp)

“We were champions three times, runners-up twice. We won a Copinha. The youth academy, by the way, needs to better adapt its professional transition processes. I don’t have candidate A, B, or C. If the CEO, who is a paid professional, comes here to collaborate, that doesn’t mean he’s a candidate. Today, we have an important trio: Rui, Muricy, and a CEO [Carlomagno] who will not work permanently at Barra Funda,” he continued.

Recently, the relationship between president Julio Casares and Carlos Belmonte became strained due to the president’s lack of support for a possible presidential candidacy by the now former football director. The current “president’s candidate” is Marcio Carlomagno, general superintendent and now the club’s CEO.

The two also disagreed over the Cotia FIP. While Casares believes this model could ease São Paulo’s finances and structure the club so that, in a few years, it could earn much more from the sale of homegrown players, Belmonte sees the move as selling off part of the youth academy for a low price.

“About Belmonte and political issues, I’ll say this. The coalition he’s part of has already set the schedule; we’ll define the debate starting in March, and in June we’ll choose a name. He’s free to have his aspirations, I think it’s a normal process. I see it as normal. I remember I was put forward as a candidate by the coalition in June. I think that’s a very reasonable timeframe,” Casares concluded.

Justification for Belmonte’s Departure

Carlos Belmonte had been São Paulo’s director since the beginning of 2021, when Julio Casares’ first term began. The disagreements increased throughout the current season, and the thrashing against Fluminense seems to have been the last straw for the director’s departure.

“At no time was the arrival of a CEO here intended to isolate people. The fact of not going to the game is a personal decision. We never had any problems. I’ve had a five-year relationship with Belmonte. I spoke to him today. We’ve been through good and bad times. We suffered major eliminations against Água Santa, Novorizontino. At no time was that work questioned. The current moment requires an adjustment so that São Paulo can strengthen,” said Casares.

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