A Brazilian court in Rio de Janeiro ordered the dismissal of Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) head Ednaldo Rodrigues on Thursday due to suspected forgery of a signature in his employment contract. The court ruling found one of the signatories of Rodrigues's 2025 contract was mentally unfit to sign, leading to the contract being declared null and void.
The decision comes just four days after the CBF announced Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti would take charge of the national team later this month.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The judge ordered new leadership elections for the federation following the ruling.
CBF's interim president Fernando Jose Sarney announced the federation would comply with the ruling and schedule new elections "as soon as possible."
Brazilian media reported that the CBF has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, though neither the court nor the CBF were immediately available to confirm these reports.
Rodrigues, who is the first Black president of the CBF, expressed confidence in the document's validity at a FIFA meeting in Asuncion on Thursday before the ruling was announced.
This isn't the first time Rodrigues has faced suspension. In 2023, he was temporarily removed after irregularities were found in his 2022 election. He was later reinstated by a Supreme Court judge after FIFA threatened sanctions against Brazilian football.
FIFA and CONMEBOL had refused to accept Rodrigues's 2023 removal, warning the CBF about possible exclusion from international competitions if it allowed external interference.
Rodrigues had been leading negotiations to hire Ancelotti as coach, which initially fell through in 2023 but finally succeeded this week. He praised Ancelotti as the "greatest coach in history."
In March, Rodrigues was reelected unopposed to serve until 2030 after former football star Ronaldo withdrew from the race. Recent controversy emerged when Brazilian magazine Piaui published an investigation claiming Rodrigues secured support for his election by increasing the salaries of regional football federation leaders.
The leadership crisis comes at a challenging time for Brazilian football. The national team currently sits in fourth place in South American qualifying for next year's World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The CBF had hoped Ancelotti's appointment, as the most successful coach in European Cup history, would help overcome these recent setbacks in Brazilian football.
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