December 14 – Rio de Janeiro’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) has thrown out Brazilian FA (CBF) boss Ednaldo Rodrigues’ appeal after a lower court removed him from the presidency.
Last week, a court in Rio annulled the 2022 CBF assembly that elected Rodrigues as CBF leader until 2026.
The STJ dismissed the appeal because it did not consider it merited an assessment of the facts. The decision leaves Rodrigues’s chances of returning to the CBF presidency hanging by a thread.
A CBF insider told Insideworldfootball that “it is all over for him” and that “there is no chance of coming back”.
A FIFA Council member, Rodrigues is seen as an ally of Gianni Infantino. He succeeded Rogerio Caboclo, who also left the CBF under a cloud after allegations of sexual harassment and alcohol abuse.
Rodrigues can seek other legal avenues to fight for his presidency, but time is running out. Jose Perdiz, the president of Brazil’s Superior Court of Sports Justice who was appointed as interim head of the CBF, has a mandate to organise fresh elections within 30 days.
Reinaldo, Flavio Zweiter and Fernando Sarney are cited in the Brazilian media as potential candidates for the CBF presidency. A candidate needs the backing of eight state federations, who make up the power base of the CBF, to be eligible to run in the presidential elections.
Rodrigues’s departure would be the latest in a long line of disgraced CBF presidents, including the FIFAgate trio, indicted by the US Department of Justice, Ricardo Teixeira, José Maria Marin and Marco Polo Del Nero.
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