Casares explains São Paulo withdrawals in letter to board members | OneFootball

The decisive week of Júlio Casares' impeachment process began with the club in turmoil. On Saturday morning (10), São Paulo fans staged a peaceful protest against the president, with banners and chants both in front of the social club and in the stands of Morumbi. The demonstrations also targeted Olten Ayres de Abreu Júnior, president of the Deliberative Council, who has been supporting Casares' viewpoints in the process, as well as Mara Casares and Douglas Schwartzmann, former directors removed after the revelation of audios in which both admit to an illegal scheme of selling VIP boxes for concerts at the stadium. Among the banners displayed were direct requests such as “Approve the impeachment,” “Out, Olten Ayres,” and “Olten and Casares, together against São Paulo.”

The protest took place on the eve of the Deliberative Council meeting that will decide the leader's future. The vote is scheduled for next Friday (16), at 6:30 PM (Brasília time), at Morumbi, in person and with a secret ballot. Casares is facing an impeachment process that has taken on new dimensions in recent days, both politically — he lost the support of four of his main supporting groups, including his own — and legally.

In a defense presented to the Council, the president sought to clarify the withdrawals made from São Paulo's accounts between 2021 and 2025, totaling R$ 11 million.

In the document, Casares claims that R$ 8.23 million corresponds to operational game expenses, such as payment for referees, made in cash. The remaining R$ 4.78 million was allegedly used for player bonuses, a practice the defense defines as common “not only in São Paulo” but “in all other football clubs in the country.”

The text further states that all transactions occurred “in strict compliance with applicable internal procedures,” with complete, detailed, and accessible records for auditing, and emphasizes that the withdrawn amounts are not related to the financial movements of the executive as an individual.

Alongside the substantive defense, Casares invested in the legal front. In addition to hiring a law firm for his personal defense, he requested a specific opinion from lawyer Luiz Flávio D’Urso on the quorum required for the president's removal, a contentious issue last week.

In the 22-page document, available only to councilors, D’Urso answers six questions posed by Casares, including the nature of the loss of mandate and which quorum should prevail.

Although the Council has already positioned itself requiring 75% of the votes, the opinion reinforces this interpretation. “The loss of a president's mandate has a punitive and exceptional nature, which is why it requires a guarantor, systematic, and stabilizing interpretation,” wrote the lawyer, who also warned of the “high risk of nullity, subsequent judicialization, and legitimacy questioning” if a lower quorum of two-thirds is applied.

Meanwhile, the case continues to gain attention outside the walls of Morumbi. 'Fantástico,' a Sunday program on 'TV Globo,' announced a report today on the ongoing investigations involving scandals at São Paulo. In the preview, the program highlights the existence of 35 cash withdrawals over the past years, totaling the same R$ 11 million cited in the police inquiry.

The investigations conducted by the judiciary and the disclosure of details by the press have been fueling internal debate and increasing pressure from councilors and fans on the eve of one of the most sensitive votes in the club's recent history.

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