Without Clubs There Is No Football: Brazilian Teams Boycott Federation Vote

Twenty prominent Brazilian football clubs announced a boycott of the upcoming Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) presidential election scheduled for Sunday.

The clubs released a joint manifesto titled “Without Clubs There Is No Football” on Wednesday, signaling a major power struggle in Brazilian football governance.

Corinthians, São Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, and sixteen other clubs joined forces across rival league organizations to protest what they describe as an undemocratic electoral process.

The clubs demand significant reforms to the CBF‘s governance structure and voting system, which currently favors state federations over the clubs themselves.

“We will not attend the vote because we disagree with the current process,” the clubs declared in their manifesto. The boycotting teams previously published a document outlining eight specific demands, including a revised electoral college and the creation of an integrity council.

The protest brings together unlikely allies from both the Brazilian Football League (Libra) and the Strong Union League (LFU), competing organizations that normally battle for influence in national football administration.

Their unified stance demonstrates the severity of their concerns about the CBF’s governance model. Notably absent from the protest is Palmeiras, one of Brazil’s most successful clubs.

Palmeiras Backs Xaud Amid Club Boycott

Palmeiras president Leila Pereira expressed support for presidential candidate Samir Xaud, who leads the only registered ticket for the election. Xaud’s campaign platform focuses on transparency, inclusion, and modernization.

The current electoral system grants each of Brazil‘s 27 state federations three votes, while top-division clubs receive only one vote each.

This imbalance has fueled longstanding tensions between clubs and the confederation over representation and decision-making power. Despite the boycott, the clubs indicated willingness to engage with the new administration after the election.

“We will be ready to talk with the new management, starting next week,” they stated, suggesting the protest aims to force reforms rather than completely reject the confederation’s authority.

The boycott represents a watershed moment in Brazilian football politics. It challenges the legitimacy of the CBF’s leadership structure and highlights growing demands for a more club-centered approach to governing the country’s most popular sport.

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