Football administration has a long and varied history of former players in positions of power. UEFA’s strings have been pulled over the years by the likes of former Chief of Football Zvonimir Boban or disgraced former confederation president Michel Platini, and it’s no different in South America.
Brazil is the world’s most successful football nation by a lot of measures but its governing body, the Confederation of Brazilian Football or CFB, has been mired in scandal.
Ednaldo Rodrigues is the current president stomping around on thin ice. Allegations were made about ‘irregularities’ relating to his election in 2022, leading to his removal from office by the courts.
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues has already been removed from office
Though he’s back in office thanks to a Supreme Court injunction, Rodrigues might not be there for long.
The presidency is up for election in March 2026 and it could come forward by a year as a result of Rodrigues’ legal issues. Not only that, but the 70-year-old will be facing just about the most formidable opponent Brazilian football could throw at him.
Two-time World Cup winner Ronaldo has had enough and he wants in. The former Brazil striker, who is ranked at number 9 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest footballers of all time, has announced his candidacy and will run against Rodrigues with plans to rebuild the prestige of the CBF and the Brazilian game.
In an interview this week, Ronaldo nominated himself as the way forward for Brazil.
“Everyone is unhappy,” he told Globo. “These administrative scandals, the injunctions, none of this is helping Brazilian football.
“We have to be vigilant, see what happens, what could happen, and be prepared for the situation.”
Rodrigues became vice-president of the CBF in 2018 after running football in the Bahia region for 17 years. He took up the interim presidency and was elected as president in a subsequently controversial vote in 2022.
Ronaldo’s popularity in Brazil and Brazilian football is beyond dispute but whether that translates into a successful election as CBF chief remains to be seen.
As well as winning the World Cup twice, Ronaldo was a Spanish champion with Real Madrid and a UEFA Cup winner with Inter Milan in the nineties.
He was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996, 1997 and 2002 and is widely regarded one of football’s greatest of all time.
