by João Marcelo
SAO PAULO – The president of CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), Rogério Caboclo, defended the continuity of football games amid the worsening of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. Currently, the country is going through the worst phase of the pandemic, exceeding 3000 daily deaths due to Covid-19.
In a meeting with the directors of the clubs of series A and B of the Brazilian Championship on March 10, Caboclo said that he would pay for the continuation of the championships. The president also affirmed that Rede Globo, holder of the broadcasting rights and its sponsors are also against the strike and that the clubs “would be fucked” if the competitions did not take place.
The video in which Caboclo made the statements was published by the newspaper “O Dia”, on Tuesday, the 23rd. “I will … Landim, Galiotte, all the presidents … I will rule in Brazilian football and I will determine that there will be competition and that you are fucked up if there are no competitions”. Said the CBF president. The president of Palmeiras, a team of Italian origin, Maurício Galiotte asked for the matter to be discussed at another time and justified, “I think the discussion is a little broader, but I will end my position here”.
Palmeiras refused to participate in a match for the Campeonato Paulista that would take place today, the 24th. The Championship was suspended in the State due to the more restrictive phase, but the Paulista Football Federation scheduled the match in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where there are no restrictions against the games. The alviverde team claimed that it was taken by surprise and that it would not have enough time to carry out health security protocols.
The disclosure of the video generated a negative reaction against CBF. Several names of the sport took a stand against the Confederation. The former player, who served for several years in the Italian league,