05/16/25 07:41:00
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05/16 19:37 CDT Brazil soccer to pick new president shortly before introducing
Ancelotti
Brazil soccer to pick new president shortly before introducing Ancelotti
By MAURICIO SAVARESE
AP Sports Writer
SAO PAULO (AP) --- The Brazilian Football Confederation will pick a new
president shortly before it introduces Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti as the new
national coach.
CBF vice president Fernando Sarney, who was named by a judge as the caretaker
president after Ednaldo Rodrigues was removed from office, announced on Friday
that the vote will take place on May 25, the same day as the last round of the
Spanish league.
When Rodrigues was in charge, Ancelotti was expected to arrive the next day at
the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro to announce his squad for two World Cup
qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June. The coach has confirmed his
move to Brazil at the end of La Liga but has not mentioned when he arrives.
Later on Friday, Rodrigues filed a motion with Brazil's Supreme Court for the
election not to be held due to the risk of sanctions by FIFA for alleged
third-power interference. His lawyers claim only a general assembly of the
soccer body can pick a new president.
The CBF election will also include eight vice president positions.
"The management of the electoral process will be under the responsibility of an
independent electoral commission," Sarney said in a statement.
Rio-based judge Gabriel de Oliveira Zefiro removed Rodrigues from the
presidency on Thursday and ordered new elections "as soon as possible." The
embattled soccer executive is appealing to the country's Supreme Court to keep
his position.
Rodrigues announced the signing of Ancelotti as Brazil coach on Monday. He won
re-election in March to remain on the job until March 2030.
Zefiro put Sarney, who asked the court to unseat Rodrigues, in charge of
organizing new elections. The judge ruled the agreement that validated
Rodrigues' first term was null and void, and that without it Rodrigues should
not have been eligible for his second term.
Sarney told TV Globo on Thursday he will not touch Brazil's deal with Ancelotti.
It is the second time Rodrigues has been removed from office by a court
decision. A similar move took place in December 2023 but the removal was
reversed by Brazil's Supreme Court.
Because of that earlier legal dispute, the confederation vice presidents
reached an agreement in January to validate Rodrigues' first term and clear the
way for him to run again.
But Zefiro sided with Sarney, who claimed one of the signatories of the deal,
the 86-year-old Antonio Carlos Nunes, was not mentally fit to sign the
agreement. The court scheduled to hear Nunes on Monday to evaluate his mental
state, but the hearing was suspended only hours after Ancelotti was signed.
Rodrigues has made no comment.
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