Ednaldo Rodrigues is elected president of the CBF in a contested election in court

In a lawsuit contested in court by a now vice president, the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) held its presidential election this Wednesday (23). The only candidate, Ednaldo Rodrigues, 67, from Bahia, was chosen by federations and clubs for a four-year term, until March 2026.

The day before, the Court of Justice of Alagoas (TJ-AL) had granted a preliminary injunction against the claim at the request of Vice President Gustavo Feijó. Judge Henrique Gomes de Barros Teixeira, of the 1st Civil Court of Maceió, suspended the vote, and Feijó’s own lawyer, Hugo Veloso, went to the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro to inform the confederation of the provisional decision.

The CBF electoral commission, however, said it had not been officially notified. The entity also stated that it had a favorable decision in the Justice of Rio de Janeiro and proceeded with its extraordinary meeting to define the new president, Rodrigues, who was already occupying the position on an interim basis.

The only ones who did not vote for him were the Alagoas Federation, which did not attend, and Ponte Preta, which had an irregularity in the power of attorney to register its will. As the votes of the federation have a weight of three, and those of the Series B teams, in the case of Ponte, a weight of one, Ednaldo got 137 of the 141 possible votes in the process.

It was a tense morning at the confederation’s headquarters, in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca. Gustavo Feijó –who argues that his right as vice president was disrespected by not being heard in the agreement with the Public Ministry for the election to take place–, came to sit in the chair intended for the interim president, now elected.

Despite the confusion, Ednaldo Rodrigues celebrated the election, one of the most troubled in the history of the CBF. Previously elected president Rogério Caboclo was provisionally removed from office in June last year amid accusations of sexual and moral harassment. In February of this year, he was suspended until the end of his term.

President of the FBF (Bahian Football Federation) from 2001 to 2018, Rodrigues was one of Caboclo’s vice presidents and will have to face a recent history of legal difficulties of the confederation’s representatives. Ricardo Teixeira, José Maria Marin and Marco Polo Del Nero also had problems.

“When we took over on an interim basis, it was a vessel in a storm. I had to hold the helm. Now, from democracy here, I want to correct course, do my best, which is cool, and purge any and all immorality that ever happened.” , spoke the president, applauded by his voters.

“There were months of insults, infamies. And today democracy won. I spent the whole time defending myself, especially against prejudice. Everyone knows about my life, I have an unblemished character”, he added. “Prejudices still exist. Because I’m from the Northeast, because I’m from Bahia, because I’m from the interior, from Vitória da Conquista, the prejudice for being black.”

Under Rodrigues, the CBF will have four new vice-presidents: Rubens Lopes (president of the Rio Federation), Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos (president of the Paulista Federation), Hélio Cury (president of the Paraná Federation) and Roberto Góes (president of the Amapá Federation). ). Ednaldo himself left, promoted, Gustavo Feijó, Castellar Guimarães Neto and Antonio Carlos Nunes.

Another four vice-presidents who held positions in Caboclo’s management remain in them. They are Fernando Sarney (MA), Francisco Noveletto (RS), Marcus Vicente (ES), who have no formal connection with the federations of their states, and Antonio Aquino, who is in the post of president of the Federation of Acre.