Caixa Econômica Federal, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, Arena Itaquera and Fiel Torcida signed this Friday (18) a protocol of intentions to settle the debt that was contracted with the bank for the construction of the Neo Química Arena, the stadium of Corinthians. Through a project by Gaviões da Fiel, the club’s organized fans, a crowdfunding will be created among the club’s fans to help Corinthians pay off its debt estimated at R$704 million.
According to the president of Gaviões da Fiel, Alexandre Domênio, better known as Ale, the expectation of the organized fans is to raise between R$500 million and R$700 million among the more than 35 million fans and pay off the debt that the club has with the bank. This could be accomplished, the organizer predicts, within six months after the launch of the campaign – scheduled to begin in the first half of November. “If 5 million fans donate R$20 per month, in six months you just have to do the calculation”, said Ale. “I believe that when we launch this campaign it will be something surreal. It will be something that will be marked in our history forever: the fans who paid for their stadium.”
The protocol was signed today, at Caixa’s headquarters on Avenida Paulista, by the club’s president, Augusto Melo, the president of Caixa, Carlos Vieira, the minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, and the president of Gaviões da Fiel. At the beginning of November, a platform and a Pix key will be launched that will begin the fundraising campaign to pay off the debt.
“What Corinthians is doing here, with the effective contribution of Gaviões da Fiel and its Fiel Torcida, is to demonstrate the immense contribution of a key change, including in the management process of clubs in Brazil. A club that has the possibility of quickly getting out of a debt situation and transforming that debt into an investment”, said the president of Caixa.
According to Carlos Vieira, there is even the possibility of a reduction in the value of the debt, if payment is made before the time set for settlement of the contract. “As we build these values, it’s a traditional banking negotiation: ‘look, we have so much here to pay off this debt’. On the other hand, we can give a refund on this debt. This is a very concrete possibility of this to happen”.
Vinicius Casconi, legal director of Corinthians, says that mechanisms will be created so that deposits made by fans are exclusively used to pay the debt, without any movement between the parties. “It is important to make it clear that this is an initiative of the fans that Corinthians is supporting. We are going to create mechanisms with Caixa so that all deposits have an exclusive destination. So, no one will be able to change the values in the account unless it is to pay off the arena. Corinthians, the board, the fans, no one will have access to withdrawals from the account”, he explained, during a press conference.
Popular role
For Padilha, Caixa’s action in supporting the efforts of organized fans to pay off the debt proves the bank’s popular role. “Caixa is accepting a demand from Corinthians fans because it understands the importance of Arena Corinthians, Arena Neo Química, for the Itaquera region and for the economic development of that region. The presence of the Arena there has already brought transport, urban mobility, subway, jobs. Not everyone knows, but Arena Corinthians is the second most visited venue in the city of São Paulo by people coming from abroad. When Caixa takes an action like this, it is looking at the potential that the Arena has to enhance such an important region,” said the minister. “For the government, the importance is to see Caixa act in a coherent and responsible manner from the point of view of from a fiscal point of view and act as a public bank that identifies these opportunities”, he added.
According to the minister, the fans’ proposal is just one of the ways being analyzed by the bank to pay the club’s debt. “The Corinthians club’s contract with Caixa continues. Corinthians, as a club, is building other alternatives with Caixa for capitalization and financing. And there is this initiative now that is the fans mobilizing to contribute to this. Other alternatives that the board Corinthians may need financing, capitalization, Caixa, as a bank, would be open to this, the analysis of this continues”, he said.
While these analyzes continue, said the minister, the funding proposed by the organized fans makes him proud to be a “Corinthians fan, maloqueiro and sufferer”. “Anyone who is a Corinthians fan knows that when our team was founded, it was created massively. There are teams that have fans and there are fans that have a team. The Corinthians fans are showing that they own the team. And they go there to solving a team problem. And by solving this problem, she knows that she will be valuing the east zone. [de São Paulo]the name of Corinthians and increasingly strengthening this identity as a fan base”, he said.
Alert
During a press interview, minister Alexandre Padilha warned the population about scams. According to him, fans should not make deposits to pay Corinthians’ debt at this time, as the campaign has not yet been launched.
“I want to emphasize that the campaign has not yet been launched with the Pix account. So, if a Pix payment request arrives today or until the official launch [da campanha] by Gaviões, don’t go depositing [o dinheiro] because this is a Pix that doesn’t exist yet [e pode ser golpe]”, he warned. “Wait for Gaviões, together with Caixa, to announce a specific platform and what the account will be to deposit”, advised the minister.
