Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, Global CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and Chair of SIGA LATIN AMERICA, outlined key pathways for the future of Brazilian football during a public hearing held by the Sports Committee of the Brazilian Federal Congress, within the framework of the Subcommittee for the Modernisation of Football.
During the session, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros presented the preliminary conclusions and strategic recommendations of the Independent Study on the Future of Brazilian Football, developed by SIGA LATIN AMERICA under the mandate of the Parliamentary Front for the Modernisation of Brazilian Football. Conducted by SIGA SPORTS SOLUTIONS, the study analyses the governance models of leading European leagues – Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and England – and formulates concrete recommendations to advance the modernisation, transparency, and sustainability of Brazilian football.
Among the key proposals presented were:
- Establish the ope legis constitution of the Brazilian Professional Football League, fulfilling a goal that has been over two decades in the making, defining it as a private, non-profit entity endowed with legal personality.
- Recognize, through legislation, the specificity of professional sport and the legal and statutory autonomy of the league, granting it the authority to regulate, administer, and manage professional competitions, safeguarding their integrity and transparency, as well as the overall sustainability of professional football — in line with the international experiences already identified.
- In line with the recognition of the principles of the specificity of professional sport and the autonomy of its representative structure, delegate, through legislation, powers to the league, including, in particular, the powers to:
- Manage disciplinary matters in the first instance;
- Commercially exploit professional competitions and define criteria for the equitable distribution of the corresponding revenues among the participating clubs (horizontal solidarity);
- Approve a financial solidarity system between professional and non-professional football (vertical solidarity);
- Conclude collective labor agreements on behalf of the clubs and public limited companies participating in professional competitions, in its capacity as an employers’ association, with representative associations of players, coaches, and other professional groups, as well as establish mechanisms for voluntary arbitration and dispute resolution; and
- Represent Brazilian professional football before international football bodies.
- Enshrine institutional supervision mechanisms, namely through an internal body (as in France and Italy), focused on financial sustainability, good governance, and integrity, without politicization — that is, without unnecessary interference by the State.
- Define, through legislation, financial parameters for the recognition of the professional nature of football competitions, as well as the guiding principles of a club or football company licensing system for participation in professional competitions.
- Grant the league, in the exercise of its autonomy, exclusive authority to approve legal, sporting, financial, administrative, and infrastructural criteria, among others, and to manage the licensing system for participation in professional competitions.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros was invited to participate by Congresswoman Laura Carneiro, Chair of the Committee, and Congressman Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, author of the request, in recognition of his extensive leadership experience as the founder and former CEO of the European Leagues (EPFL) and the World Leagues Association.
The study, now in an advanced stage of development, marks a decisive step in the cooperation between the Brazilian Federal Congress and SIGA LATIN AMERICA. It represents an independent and technical contribution aimed at guiding the legislative and institutional process toward a sustainable and integrity-driven future for Brazilian football.
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world’s leading organisation for Sport Integrity. We are creating a whole new landscape for the sports industry by delivering independent global rating and certification for world Sport to ensure it is governed and operates under the highest integrity standards: The SIGA Universal Standards.
Funded by our Members, SIGA is a non for profit global independent organisation with one aim: To ensure the sport industry is governed under the highest integrity standards so that the values of sport are protected.
SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for-profit association, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.
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