Governança corporativa nas sociedades anônimas do futebol

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze corporate governance in Football Corporations (Sociedades Anônimas do Futebol – SAFs), established by Law No. 14,193 of August 6, 2021, with the objective of verifying whether this legislation enables and encourages the development of Brazilian football clubs, promoting the professionalization of their management and bringing the Brazilian football market closer to the model adopted by other countries. In this regard, the research addresses the historical and cultural evolution of football in Brazil, the limitations of the civil association model adopted by most Brazilian clubs, previous legislative modernization attempts, notably the Zico Law (Law No. 8,672/1993) and the Pelé Law (Law No. 9,615/1998), and the innovations introduced by the SAF Law concerning incorporation, corporate structure, and corporate governance. In order to address this issue, the methodology adopted was based on legislative analysis, bibliographical research, and a comparative case study between the SAFs of Clube de Regatas Vasco da Gama and Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, both clubs competing in Série A of the Brazilian Championship. The results emonstrate that, although the transformation into an SAF provided both clubs with an initial financial and sporting leap resulting from the inflow of resources and the implementation of professionalized governance, the mere adoption of this corporate structure is not synonymous with success. The experience of the analyzed cases shows that, when governance is no longer exercised with diligence and competence, the same mechanisms that enabled the initial recovery may contribute to new financial and administrative crises. Thus, it is concluded that the success of SAFs depends not only on financial resources, but, above all, on diligent, competent, and professional governance, capable of making decisions in the best interest of the corporation