One of the most traditional shirts in northeastern football, Santa Cruz is experiencing one of the most dramatic moments in its centuries-old history. Without division, the Pernambuco team is trying to get back on its feet and sees the Sociedade Anônima de Futebol (SAF) as an alternative for financial and sporting recovery.
Gigante do Arruda’s 2025 season began with elimination in the pre-Copa do Nordeste, for Treze-PB, and now the focus is on competing in the Pernambucano Championship. Off the field, negotiations for the SAF continue at full steam.
O Sporting News presents who the possible investors are and Tricolor’s plans for the new phase.
Will Santa Cruz become SAF?
Santa Cruz, 29 times Pernambuco champion and champion of the Copa do Nordeste in 2016, has not been able to participate in the fourth national division for two years. If, in the past, the team managed to compete in the South American Championship, today it faces a reduced championship: it only plays pre-Copa do Nordeste and the Campeonato Pernambucano.
Plans to change the model at Santa began in 2022, when the club presented a debt of around R$280 million. In the same year, he approved the constitution of the SAF.
In 2024, the amount reached R$305 million, according to the balance released by the club in August.
As if the off-field debts were not enough, the club did not achieve the sporting success desired by the fans. In 2021, it fell from Series C to Series D.
The situation became even more dramatic with the early elimination in 2022 and the absence of a national calendar in 2023 – which meant that the club spent around ten months without professional football activities.
In 2024, Santa also spent ten months without playing, and without the Copa do Brasil after falling in the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Pernambucano to Náutico.
During this period, the choir club received investments from several companies. Azuriz, from Paraná, Guilherme Bellintani, president of Bahia, and Rivaldo, former football player.
In January 2025, SAF is close to being sold to a Minas Gerais group.
Who are the possible ‘owners’ of Santa Cruz?
The most likely names to take over Santa Cruz are businessmen Vinícius Diniz and Márcio Cadar, from Minas Gerais. In addition to them, other investors are part of the group.
Diniz was at SAF at Athletic, a club from Minas Gerais that will compete in Series B in 2025. Cadar, in turn, works in the financial sector. The information is from Rádio 98, from Minas Gerais.
According to “ge.globo”, the duo was in Recife, capital of Pernambuco, to close the deal this Monday (13/01).
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How much will be invested in SAF Santa Cruz?
The proposal is for an investment of around R$1 billion for 90% of the club’s shares, the maximum percentage allowed by Brazilian legislation.
In this way, 10% continue to belong to the association. Check what the resource should be used for:
- Heritage (Arruda stadium and Training Center);
- Payment of debts;
- Staggered investments in football.
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Santa Cruz’s next games
Santa Cruz is fully focused on competing in the Pernambucano Championship to guarantee a national calendar in 2025.
- 1st round: 11/1 (Sat) – 4pm – Decision 1 x 1 Santa Cruz (Odilon Ferreira)
- 2nd round: 16/1 (Thursday) – 8pm – Santa Cruz x Petrolina (Arruda)
- 3rd round: 19/1 (Sun) – 4pm – Santa Cruz x Afogados (Arruda)
- 4th round: 1/25 (Sat) – 4:30 pm – Náutico x Santa Cruz (Aflitos)
- 5th round: 1/28 (Tue) – 8pm – Santa Cruz x Retrô (Arruda)
- 6th round: 1/2 (Sat) – 4:30 pm – Santa Cruz x Sport (Arruda)
- 7th round: 8/2 (Sat) – 7:30 pm – Jaguar x Santa Cruz (Arena PE)
- 8th round: 2/16 (Sun) – 4pm – Santa Cruz x Central (Arruda)
- 9th round: 22/2 (Sat) – 4:30 pm – Maguary x Santa Cruz (Arthur Tavares)
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