Corinthians miss out, won't play in 2026 Copa Libertadores de Futsal

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Central do Timão

·25 de fevereiro de 2026

Corinthians miss out, won't play in 2026 Copa Libertadores de Futsal

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Corinthians Futsal was defeated by Carlos Barbosa in the race to host the 2026 edition of the Futsal Copa Libertadores. As a result, the club from Parque São Jorge will not participate in the continental tournament this season, according to information released by Meu Timão.

According to reports, Corinthians had formalized its bid back in 2024, during the tenure of then-president Augusto Melo. The proposal was submitted to Conmebol with the support of Ednaldo Rodrigues, who at the time was the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation. The project planned to hold the competition at the Wlamir Marques Gymnasium and highlighted the strengths of Parque São Jorge's infrastructure, its strategic location in São Paulo, transportation logistics, and the wide hotel network available, as well as training centers ready to host the delegations.

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Photo: Corinthians Publicity

After Augusto Melo's impeachment and Ednaldo Rodrigues' removal from the CBF, the club resubmitted the bid. This time, the request was supported by president Osmar Stabile, in coordination with Samir Xaud, the new head of the national entity. The approach occurred before a Brazilian National Team match at the Neo Química Arena in July 2025, when Stabile met with Xaud to reinforce support for the proposal.

Despite the new attempt, the bid lost momentum after the Corinthians president himself admitted, in a meeting with the Orientation Council (Cori), that he was considering ending the futsal project due to the club's financial situation, with debt nearing R$ 3 billion. From this scenario, Carlos Barbosa gained ground in the race and, with the support of its sponsor behind the scenes, secured the right to host the competition.

Thus, the 2026 Futsal Copa Libertadores is expected to take place in May, at the ACBF gymnasium in Rio Grande do Sul. The team from Rio Grande do Sul is already guaranteed in the tournament, which will also celebrate the club's 50th anniversary. As a result, Corinthians has no chance to compete in this edition. Under the current regulations, Brazil has only one guaranteed spot, allocated to the Supercopa do Brasil champion.

The Libertadores gathers the champion and runner-up of the Brazilian Futsal Championship, the two finalists of the Copa do Brasil, as well as the winners of the Taça do Brasil and the Copa dos Campeões. Since Corinthians did not participate in these competitions last season, they were out of the direct qualification race and relied solely on the hosting condition to secure their presence.

Even out of the 2026 edition, the club maintains the intention to try to host the tournament in the future. The management plans to present a new bid when the futsal project is restructured, as this season, the squad will be composed mainly of youth players.

Meanwhile, the team led by Fernando Malafaia returns to the court on March 5th, at 8 PM, to face Carlos Barbosa at the Perinão Gymnasium, for the debut in the Supercopa Gramado.

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