Brazil orders Rodrigues return as CBF chief ahead of Olympic deadline

BRASILIA : Brazilian Justice Minister Gilmar Mendes ordered Ednaldo Rodrigues to be reinstated as the country's football confederation president after he overturned the previous ruling of the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice..

Rodrigues was removed from his post last month by the Rio de Janeiro court despite being elected to lead the CBF until 2026. The court appointed the president of the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), Jose Perdiz, as interim head.

Mendes cited the risk of the Brazil national team being barred by FIFA, world soccer's governing body, from taking part in the qualifying tournament for this year's Paris Olympics unless Rodrigues was re-instated.

FIFA does not accept government interference in any soccer affairs and bans nations from taking part in any of its competitions if they fall foul of these rules.

"In this situation, there is a risk of imminent damage, since the registration of players from the Brazilian national team in the qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which must be completed by tomorrow (5.1.2024), would be made unfeasible," Mendes said.

Mendes pointed out that FIFA had sent successive letters to Brazil in which it stated that it does not recognise the interim president appointed by the court as the legitimate representative of CBF.

(Writing Angelica Medina, Editing by Pedro Fonseca and Pritha Sarkar)