April 7 – The salaries of the presidents of the 27 Brazilian state federations have jumped from R$50,000 (US$8,555) to R$215,000 (US$36,777) per month, an increase of 330% under the administration of CBF boss Ednaldo Rodrigues that also extended to junkets at the 2022 World Cup.
Last month, Rodrigues was re-elected unopposed as the chairman of the Brazilian FA, but a damning report by investigative journalist Alan de Abreu from leading magazine Piauí has exposed the questionable use of CBF’s financial resources, including strategies to ensure Rodrigues’ re-election and millions in expenses spent on parliamentarians, artists, and members of the judiciary, particularly in relation to the 2022 World Cup.
The 27 state federations have always been the power base of the CBF and its president as they hold the majority of votes in the elections. Under Rodrigues, the 27 state federation presidents received a massive pay rise.
The organisation also expensed 49 people who had no direct ties to the organisation, including members of parliament, artists, and family members, during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The cost of the trip, which included first-class flights, accommodation in five-star hotels, and tickets to the matches, was estimated at R$3,000,000 (US$513,330).
During the tournament, the CBF, Piauí reports, also covered expenses of Rodrigues’s close family: his wife, his daughter, a sister-in-law, a son-in-law, and grandchildren travelled first class, with luxury accommodation and VIP service, resulting in additional costs of R$37,000 (US$6,348) for his wife alone. The CBF also pampered congressman José Alves Rocha and senator Ciro Nogueira, spending R$364,000 (US$62,311) and R$195,000 (US$33,365) respectively.
In 2023, the CBF covered hotel and accommodation expenses for Roberto Goes, the president of the Federação Amapaense de Futebol and a vice-president of the CBF, and his relatives in São Paulo following surgery on Glaucia Oliveira, Goes’s wife, amounting to at least R$114,000 (US$19,504).
The report also claims that not a single one of the 14 training centers financed by money from FIFA’s World Cup legacy fund has been completed.
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