By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Amid growing discontent with the Brazilian FA, some of Brazil’s leading clubs have revealed a desire to establish a breakaway league. The CBF has responded by proposing an amendement to its statutes, giving greater power to the clubs.
The CBF and its president Marco Polo Del Nero have faced intense scrutiny of late as Brazilian football has been engulfed by the aftermath of the FIFA scandal.
Last week the president of Brazil’s football confederation Del Nero said he was “angry and perplexed” by the arrest of his predecessor Jose Maria Marin on charges of alleged fraud, racketeering and money laundering over more than two decades. Following a dawn raid on May 29 at Zurich’s Bar au Lac hotel, Marin was taken into custody by Swiss authorities, pending extradition to the United States.
Del Nero, who had been set to attend the FIFA Congress and oversee Brazil’s vote in the election between Sepp Blatter and challenger Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, felt cornered and fled Switzerland the following day.
Brazil’s state leagues have long provoked condemnation from the country’s top clubs, who say they only serve to prop-up their poorer rivals. The leagues, whose seasons span about four months and commence at the start of the calendar year, don’t generate a lot of interest from fans. The state leagues are seen to be the chief culprit for Brazil’s cluttered football calendar.
In April Flamengo, Fluminense and Cruzeiro considered joining a rebel national league.
“We have to look at what the reasons are for forming a league,” said Del Nero in a press conference back then. “They will have to create a new board, they’ll have expenses and won’t be able to do what the CBF does. We don’t charge a penny from Serie A clubs and even so we help those in the Serie B, C and D. If they want to take it away, they have to take everything with them, not just the best part.”
The idea of a breakaway has gained new momentum in the fallout of the global FIFA crisis. Atlético-PR, Coritiba, Paraná, Grêmio, Internacional, Flamengo, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Atlético-MG, Santos, Bahia, Sport e Ceará held talks about possibly forming a new league, no longer under the auspices of the CBF.
In response to the rebellion and to smother the creation of a new league the CBF will amend its statutes this Thursday. Del Nero will empower the clubs to participate in the decision-making process of the calendar planning and the league format.
“It is an idea that has been coming for a long time, since the election a few [things] are being accelerated,” said CBF secretary general Walter Feldman. “It is an idea to strengthen Brazilian football. From Thursday on with the reform of the statute, there will be no more veto power for the CBF. It will be a decision with all the clubs together.”
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