Belmonte set to leave São Paulo after snub as Casares’ successor | OneFootball

The Tricolor board has stopped speaking the same language in recent times (Instagram)

RAFAEL EMILIANO@rafaelemilianoo

Almost a week after a message was mistakenly sent by a São Paulo employee in which the club’s football director, Carlos Belmonte, was allegedly insulted and the target of supposed ‘fake news’ planted (the employee claimed it was a joke), the crisis behind the scenes in Tricolor’s politics seems to have finally exploded. And it could lead to the director’s departure.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, ‘forced’ to accept the employee’s apologies, Belmonte realized he is practically out of Julio Casares’ deck of cards for nomination as his successor in the Morumbi club’s presidency, in the elections that will take place at the end of 2026.

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More than that, the political group to which Belmonte belongs did not swallow the apologies. Furthermore, they saw a clear attempt from Casares’ allies to ‘fry’ their football director.

With all this, Belmonte is expected to leave the football board. ‘UOL’ mentions the end of the year, but AMT has learned that the departure should happen in the coming weeks. It’s an attempt by Casares to present to the public one of his favorites to take his seat in the next term: Márcio Carlomagno, the club’s current CEO, who in recent times has become the president’s right-hand man, forming a kind of ‘purebred ticket’ alongside the president of the Deliberative Council, Olten Ayres Abreu, and the social director Mara Casares, his ex-wife.

THE PLOT OF THE CRISIS

Appointed football director for being the main architect of Casares’ election in 2021, Belmonte has always faced external criticism and accusations of being illegally in the position, as this would violate the club’s statutes. At the time, the director was riding a wave of great success within Morumbi. Boosted by the victories of the basketball team he helped revive, he became the leader of one of São Paulo’s largest political groups.

For Casares, his presence in São Paulo’s most important department was essential to have broad support in the Deliberative Council and to finally demobilize the opposition.

The first rifts appeared in 2022. Belmonte’s allies opposed the change in the statute that allowed Casares to be re-elected. The reason, obviously, was to have the football director as president. And his group, then a kind of ‘São Paulo centrão’, suffered significant losses. Douglas Schwartzman, current youth director and a crucial figure in São Paulo politics, and his allies were the first. Cardinals, such as former president Fernando Casal del Rey, still formed an important allied base and prevented a bigger crisis.

After overcoming the first clash, Belmonte’s now weakened political group entered a collision course with Casares from the start of this second term. Whether for losing important positions (the president insisted on keeping Olten Ayres as head of the Council, something they opposed), or because of the financial crisis São Paulo got into.

Instead of reducing its debt, on the contrary, increasing it by almost R$ 1 billion, Casares secured the Galápagos investment fund and implemented a spending cap that displeased Belmonte in football. The end of last year was marked by an exchange of information. On one side, journalists with Morumbi as a source rushed to spread that Belmonte’s days were numbered. On the other, from Barra Funda came information that Casares dreamed of turning São Paulo into a SAF where he would be the CEO.

In a way, the supposed total harmony between club and football was exposed to the fans, and since then, actions have made things more than clear, almost always with Belmonte taking the hits.

Amid news about the financial situation, football was blamed for exceeding the forecast by R$ 43 million in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, the department led by football, located in Barra Funda, considers the budget unrealistic and points to the lack of investment to build the squad.

On one side, Barra Funda rushed to sell jewels and made it clear that the order is to tighten the belt. On the other, Casares took the lead in some football decisions and even announced signings and renewals before the club itself.

The episode of the mistaken message sent by the club’s communications director, José Eduardo Martins, is considered ‘the icing on the cake’. Casares was direct internally in saying he would not fire the employee, as Belmonte’s supporters wanted, who, resentful, complied with the ‘order’ to stay quiet about the incident, swallowing hard, even as a way to shield the squad before the Copa Libertadores decision. After the game, however, the internal snowball keeps growing. And perhaps only changes can prevent it from completely collapsing Casares’ management in its final stretch.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.