Turnaround: Justice suspends General Assembly that would vote on reform of Corinthians statute

By Larissa Beppler and Henrique Vigliotti | Central do Timão newsroom

The Court suspended this Tuesday (16) the General Assembly of Corinthians called for next Saturday (20), in which members would vote on the proposal to reform the club's statute.

The decision came from judge Maurício Campos da Silva Velho, from the 4th Chamber of Private Law of the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJ-SP), who accepted the request for appeal protection formulated by life counselors Ademir de Carvalho Benedito, Alexandre Husni and Guilherme Gonçalves Strenger and determined the suspension of the effects of the notice calling the meeting.

Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Agência Corinthians

In the judge's assessment, the elements presented by the appellant reveal consistent signs of irregularities in the processing of the proposed statutory reform, which justifies the precautionary suspension of the process. Among the aspects highlighted is the possible violation of article 97, item "M", of the Corinthian statute, which gives the Guidance Council (Cori) the authority to propose statutory changes to the Deliberative Council (CD).

The aggravators allege that the Guidance Council is responsible for proposing statutory changes and that it did not approve the text subsequently sent to the CD. In the counselors' interpretation, the rejection of the draft by Cori compromises the validity of all subsequent procedures.

Benedito, Strenger and Husni also argue that the reform process disrespected the rite established by statute. According to the thesis presented to the Court, the CD deliberated, in November 2025, only on the convenience of promoting a statutory reform, without there being at that time a base text or concrete proposal submitted for evaluation by the body's members.

According to the applicants, the first instance decision mistakenly interpreted this deliberation as prior approval of the reform proposal. In the counselors' view, however, recognizing the convenience of modernizing the statute cannot be confused with the approval of specific content to change the club's internal rules.

The petition also states that the Deliberative Council itself rejected the basic text during a meeting held on April 29. Despite this, the project continued its internal process until it was submitted to the members for consideration, a fact that led to the request for suspension of the assembly.

Although he highlighted that the matter must be examined from the perspective of the autonomy guaranteed to sports entities by the Federal Constitution, the judge concluded that the elements presented justify the granting of urgent protection to prevent the assembly from being held before the judicial definition of the regularity of the procedure adopted.

The counselors argue that the alleged irregularities constitute original defects capable of compromising the entire formation of the reform proposal, which is why they could not be remedied even by eventual approval by the members at the General Assembly.

With the granting of appeal protection, the Court ordered the immediate communication of the decision to the court of origin. Afterwards, the opposing party will be summoned to present counter-arguments, and the appeal will continue for analysis of the remaining procedural steps until its final judgment.

Legal disputes

Corinthians' statutory reform has been the target of successive legal disputes since the beginning of this year. The first General Assembly called to discuss the issue ended up suspended after a preliminary decision obtained by counselor Felipe Ezabella, also a member of Cori.

After the resumption of processing, the Deliberative Council returned to analyzing the project in new meetings. Subsequently, the then acting president of the body Leonardo Pantaleão called a new General Assembly for June 20th.

On another legal front, members linked to the collectives Voz Corinthiana and Família Corinthians obtained a favorable decision to ensure the validity of the call for the General Assembly. With this, the Court recognized the regularity of the notice that provided for the vote on the statutory reform.

Days later, Felipe Ezabella again questioned the procedure in court. This time, he requested that the Assembly's agenda be restricted to the highlights approved by the Deliberative Council, without including the basic text of the reform. The request, however, was rejected. In addition to denying the motion for clarification presented by the counselor, the Court converted the procedure into a contentious action and determined its inclusion in the defendant side of the process.

Another recent development occurred in a lawsuit filed by club members who questioned the requirement of five years of association to participate in the Assembly. On that occasion, the Court granted an injunction ensuring the right to vote for all Parque São Jorge members with active registration on the date the meeting was called, on May 8. With the decision, members with less than five years of association also became part of the electoral college responsible for deliberating on the statutory reform.

The case that resulted in the suspension of the assembly began with an action proposed by Ademir Benedito, Alexandre Husni and Guilherme Strenger. They asked for the process to be stopped on the grounds that the proposal submitted to the members had not been regularly constituted within the requirements set out in the black and white statute.

The injunction request was initially rejected by judge Rafael Viotti Schlobach, from the 3rd Civil Court of the Tatuapé Regional Court. At the time, the judge understood that the arguments presented did not find sufficient support in the evidence contained in the case and noted that the General Assembly constitutes the highest and sovereign body of the club, with competence to deliberate on statutory changes under the terms of the Civil Code.

The judge also considered that the statutory requirement related to the recognition of the need for reform had been fulfilled by the Deliberative Council in November 2025. Furthermore, he admitted that Leonardo Pantaleão had the statutory competence to call the meeting, regardless of a favorable opinion from the majority of councilors.

Now, with the decision of the Court of Justice, the General Assembly scheduled for Saturday remains suspended until further manifestation by the Judiciary.

Corinthians News

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Source: Timao Central