Brazil soccer to pick new president shortly before introducing Ancelotti

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SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazilian Football Confederation will pick a new president shortly before it introduces Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti as the new national coach.

CBF vice president Fernando Sarney, who was named by a judge as the caretaker president after Ednaldo Rodrigues was removed from office, announced on Friday that the vote will take place on May 25, the same day as the last round of the Spanish league.

When Rodrigues was in charge, Ancelotti was expected to arrive the next day at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro to announce his squad for two World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June. The coach has confirmed his move to Brazil at the end of La Liga but has not mentioned when he arrives.

Later on Friday, Rodrigues filed a motion with Brazil's Supreme Court for the election not to be held due to the risk of sanctions by FIFA for alleged third-power interference. His lawyers claim only a general assembly of the soccer body can pick a new president.

The CBF election will also include eight vice president positions.

“The management of the electoral process will be under the responsibility of an independent electoral commission,” Sarney said in a statement.

Rio-based judge Gabriel de Oliveira Zefiro removed Rodrigues from the presidency on Thursday and ordered new elections “as soon as possible.” The embattled soccer executive is appealing to the country’s Supreme Court to keep his position.

Rodrigues announced the signing of Ancelotti as Brazil coach on Monday. He won re-election in March to remain on the job until March 2030.

Zefiro put Sarney, who asked the court to unseat Rodrigues, in charge of organizing new elections. The judge ruled the agreement that validated Rodrigues’ first term was null and void, and that without it Rodrigues should not have been eligible for his second term.

Sarney told TV Globo on Thursday he will not touch Brazil’s deal with Ancelotti.

It is the second time Rodrigues has been removed from office by a court decision. A similar move took place in December 2023 but the removal was reversed by Brazil’s Supreme Court.

Because of that earlier legal dispute, the confederation vice presidents reached an agreement in January to validate Rodrigues’ first term and clear the way for him to run again.

But Zefiro sided with Sarney, who claimed one of the signatories of the deal, the 86-year-old Antonio Carlos Nunes, was not mentally fit to sign the agreement. The court scheduled to hear Nunes on Monday to evaluate his mental state, but the hearing was suspended only hours after Ancelotti was signed.

Rodrigues has made no comment.

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