January 3 – The Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) has dismissed its communications director Rodrigo Paiva because of his ties to Ronaldo.
With close ties to former CBF president Ricardo Teixeira, Paiva has long enjoyed a reputation as a power broker in the Brazilian governing body, but the organisation parted ways with him after he sought closer alignment with Ronaldo. The former striker recently announced that he wants to run the CBF. Paiva and Ronaldo worked together in the late 90s.
His dismissal appears to be linked to a Brazilian court order last August that saw the CBF pay R$60,000 ($9,700) to former director Luisa Rosa, who accused members of the governing body of moral and sexual harassment. Rosa had become the first female director at the CBF.
Paiva dismissed speculation that his name is mentioned in the investigation. In a statement, he said: “I would like to clarify that I have no say in the matter in question, since I am not and have never been part of this process or any other of this nature. Since I do not know the content of the process nor do I have access to its content, since it is being processed under judicial secrecy, I have no way of commenting on it.”
Between 2002 and 2014, Paiva served as communications director and national team press officer at the CBF. He made a backdoor exit at the 2014 World Cup when he was suspended because of his involvement in an altercation following Brazil’s round of 16 match against Chile. Three years ago, he returned to the CBF, but his relationship with president Ednaldo Rodrigues quickly deteriorated.
Paiva is being mooted as the new communications chief of Flamengo following the election of Luiz Eduardo Batista as the new club president. He succeeds Rogerio Landim.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo wants to stand in the CBF presidential elections, but the former striker will need to find support among the state federations, the powerbase of the CBF, to challenge Rodrigues.
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