Rui Costa tackles criticism, corruption and exits at São Paulo | OneFootball

Chief executive Rui Costa gave a lengthy interview on Monday night (27), already in Bogotá, Colombia, where he is accompanying São Paulo’s delegation for the Sul-Americana clash, and spoke about a range of, and controversial, topics that have surrounded the club in recent weeks, always turbulent, on and off the pitch.

Speaking to Rádio Bandeirantes, the Tricolor executive addressed the strong criticism he has been receiving from São Paulo fans, responded about internal corruption at the club, as well as the controversial departures of Muricy Ramalho and Allan Barcellos from the under-20 team, and, of course, the Arboleda saga.

Check out the main excerpts:

CRITICISM RECEIVED

I don’t know if it’s 20 million people who want me out, maybe it’s a lot of people. That is a direct burden for anyone who works at a big club in the role I have. I’ve lived through similar pressure at other clubs, I’ve enjoyed very calm environments at São Paulo, because I didn’t have the prominence I have today, and that prominence, especially in the environment football lives in today, is very much like that, from love to hate, and this issue of a harsher assessment always prevails.

I have deep respect for São Paulo’s supporters, I know how important they are, how important they were, especially when we won the Copa do Brasil, and I was here, I was executive director when we won the Copa do Brasil, and I had—because I didn’t have the prominence I have today—but I could feel the fans’ satisfaction, their happiness when I met supporters on the street in the moments I’m out, the few social moments I have, because my life is practically São Paulo.

And today they are dissatisfied, and I have to understand that this dissatisfaction has to be a driving force so that I, in my work, as long as the people who run the club understand that this work is relevant and appropriate, can turn this rejection, which I still can’t quantify, but which is clearly there when the movement on social media is very large, the supporters’ demonstrations and so on, turn this into even greater energy to reverse this situation so that the supporters, maybe by the end of the year, in a few days, in a few months, can understand that the work we have done, that I have done here, was work that respected São Paulo’s greatness.

DID YOU SEE ANY CORRUPTION?

I am a professional, I do not take part in political relations, I have never worked in any political setting, I have never seen, noticed, suspected, or taken part in any corrupt act in the football department or in any setting at the club, because I have no political ties and there has been no such practice in the football department, neither in the past nor in the present, at least while I have been here with these people.

If that later appears somewhere, well, then that is not for me to assess here, because I am a lawyer, I have legal training, and I would never prejudge anyone. I had a professional relationship with president Casares, as I do with president Massis. I repeat, I have no involvement in any political setting, no political maneuvering. I am a club professional and I can guarantee to you that I have never seen, taken part in, or noticed anything outside what exists within professional football.

MURICY RAMALHO

São Paulo lost a lot, without any doubt. I lost a lot, we all lost, because Muricy taught me every day over breakfast what it meant to belong to this club. In the hardest moments, he was the one I talked to, the one I sought advice from.

And, obviously, his departure affected not only the club and the football department, but especially me, because, I repeat, he was a great mentor to me in getting to know, learning, and understanding the greatness and the particularities of the club I came to and where I have now been for almost six years.

So, for me, from a personal standpoint, it was a huge loss, but he had already been making an enormous sacrifice in terms of his health, he lives São Paulo and football very intensely, he had to stop to take care of the greatest asset a man can have, he is a family man, a grandfather, he has a very solid, very strong relationship with his family.

And São Paulo lost a lot, I lost a lot, all of us did, but I think he gained quality of life, gained time with his family. I still talk to him almost every week, he is still very present in our routine here. And I hope that one day he can come back to São Paulo; hopefully I’ll still be here, but if I’m not, I’m sure his presence at São Paulo will be something very important for the club, for all of us.

ALLAN BARCELLOS’ DEPARTURE

First of all, Allan Barcellos was a professional linked to São Paulo’s youth development setup. I don’t know if the fans are clear on that, and São Paulo has two executives: the professional football executive and the youth academy executive, who is my colleague (Marcos) Biasotto, one of the great professionals in this area. Allan Barcellos always worked under this process led and commanded by Biasotto.

The few times I dealt with Allan were when he was at the training center, and more specifically when Biasotto, concerned about possible interest from Palmeiras, asked for my help and I obviously sat down with Allan and talked to him. Then, already in the second meeting, with Rafinha present, we changed his contract very significantly. Allan became, at São Paulo, perhaps one of the highest-paid youth coaches in Brazil.

And after that he made the decision to ask for his release, in other words, Allan was not fired. Allan was professionally valued and had already been valued before by Biasotto himself. And when the possibility of going to Palmeiras came up, he said he preferred to stay at São Paulo.

We gave him a very significant raise, and São Paulo, which handles these budget matters in a very conservative, very orthodox way, we spoke to the president, president Massis was very firm on this, and we turned his pay into compensation that, I repeat, placed him among the highest-paid youth coaches in Brazil. And he, after some time, decided to resign. He was not fired, it is important to say that, and once no longer tied to the club, he chose to go to Palmeiras. And those are the facts. The rest is interpretation.

The president will keep the project going until the moment he believes this project still holds up, and it does not hold up because of external pressure, it holds up because of the day-to-day he follows here, because of what we do, the reports we share with him, what Rafinha tells him every day, what I share with him, the work we see out on the pitch.

We all know that what keeps us in place is work, and I believe that the work being done here, in a context of great diversity, is positive. Today there is, and I deeply respect São Paulo’s supporters, an animosity or even dissatisfaction that is not directly linked to what happens on the pitch. So, when that comes into sync, I believe things will improve.

THE ARBOLEDA CASE

Objectively, the Arboleda issue today is much more legal and sporting because of an attitude of his, but we are still working so that, from a sporting standpoint, he comes here to report to the club and give his explanations, which today would practically be nonexistent, from our point of view, from our supporters’ point of view, from what we believe the relationship of a São Paulo player should be: one of respect for his club, its executives, but above all for its supporters.

This relationship is very damaged, but today the issue is legal; he has already been formally notified to report to the club, a new notification has already been made, and we still have a few days for things to move toward a more definitive outcome, but I would say, and I repeat, that today the Arboleda matter is much more in the legal sphere than in the sporting sphere.

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