A court in Rio de Janeiro has ordered the dismissal of Ednaldo Rodrigues as president of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF).
Gatekeepers News reports that the court’s decision, handed down on Thursday, cited problems with Rodrigues’s employment agreement, which was deemed “null” and void.
The ruling stems from a dispute over Rodrigues’s 2025 contract, with the court finding that one of the signatories was mentally unfit to sign, raising suspicions of “possible forgery.”
Despite this, Rodrigues expressed confidence in the validity of the document, telling journalists at a FIFA meeting in Asuncion on Thursday that he had “absolute certainty” the contract was legitimate.
Rodrigues’s tenure as CBF president has been marked by controversy, including a temporary suspension in 2023 due to irregularities in his 2022 election. However, he was reinstated after a Supreme Court judge intervened, warning that FIFA might impose sanctions on Brazilian football.
The CBF’s affairs have also been closely watched by FIFA and CONMEBOL, which had refused to recognise Rodrigues’s ouster in 2023, cautioning that external interference in the federation’s affairs could lead to Brazil’s exclusion from international competitions.
Despite the crisis, Rodrigues had been making progress in his role, including negotiations to sign Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti as Brazil’s coach.
Ancelotti was finally appointed to the position this week, replacing Zinedine Zidane. Rodrigues had also been unanimously reelected to his post until 2030 in March.
