May 19 – Samir Xaud, president-elect of the Roraima Football Federation, will be the only candidate in the election to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as the president of the Brazilian FA (CBF).
Brazilian media report that Xaud has received support from 25 federations and 10 clubs, including Botafogo and Vasco da Gama, ahead of the CBF elections on May 25, prompted by Rodrigues’s removal from the CBF presidency by a Rio court.
The widespread backing of Xaud would remove Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, the president of Sao Paulo’s Football Federation (FPF), from the race. Ten clubs back him, but that support alone is not without fulfilling an election clause that says candidates must have the backing of eight of the 27 state federations. Those regional bodies have always formed the core electorate and power base of any CBF president.
Aged 41, Xaud replaced his father as head of the Roraima Football Federation. He is an infectious disease doctor specialising in “health, well-being and sports”.
In a statement, his campaign said: “Our goal is to improve the use of CBF resources with responsibility and clarity, ensuring more efficient management, open to dialogue and focused on concrete results. We will work to address the main structural challenges facing Brazilian football, such as the calendar, professionalisation of referees, improvements to pitches, stadium security and strengthening of leagues.”
At present, Fernando Sarney, a former FIFA Council member, is running the CBF on an interim basis. He had been tasked by the court to stage fresh elections after Rodrigues was removed from his role because of a forged signature on a document that confirmed his election. It’s the second time that a court has ruled against his presidency.
Rodrigues came under intense pressure after an article by leading Brazilian magazine Piaui exposed his financial mismanagement as CBF president. One of his last acts was to hire Carlo Ancelotti as the new manager of the national team with the Italian becoming the first foreign manager of Brazil in modern history.
Son of former president José Sarney, Fernando Sarney is on Xaud’s campaign election icket together with vice presidents Ednailson Leite Rozenha (president of the Amazon Federation), Flavio Diz Zveiter (former president of the STJD), Gustavo Dias Henrique (former Director of Institutional Relations at CBF), José Vanildo da Silva (president of the Rio Grande do Norte Federation), Michelle Ramalho Cardoso (president of the Paraíba Federation), Ricardo Augusto Lobo Cluck Paul (president of the Paraense Federation) and Rubens Renato Angelotti (president of the Santa Catarina Federation).
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