Pacaembu may not host the Copa São Paulo final. The stadium, where the last match of the tournament is scheduled, does not yet have an operating license and the General Sports Law and the FPF (São Paulo Football Federation) competition regulations prevent the game from taking place without the document.
Allegra, the concessionaire that manages the stadium, has not even requested the permit until now, with just a few days to go before the match, as it also does not have the completion date for the works, a mandatory stage for the license. The final takes place every year on the anniversary of the city of São Paulo, January 25th.
HAS Sheetthe FPF said that the final of the Copa São Paulo, or Copinha as the tournament is also called, will only be organized at the Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu (new name of the stadium) if “all operational prerequisites are met, as well as the documentation necessary for the match to be carried out safely for fans and clubs”.
The president of the federation, Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, had said on Sunday (12) that the final was confirmed for Pacaembu, that the stadium is ready, and that the game will be for up to 26 thousand fans. He is the uncle of one of the dealership’s owners.
Paulistão’s regulations also bar tournament games from taking place there, as it is a condition that all reports are delivered “within a non-extendable period of 30 days before the start of the competition”, which began this Wednesday (15). Three of the four reports depend on the license.
The stadium that fails to meet the deadline is “automatically rejected”. Portuguesa announced the closure of Canindé, starting on Sunday (19), and intended to play the rest of the championship at Pacaembu.
The FPF did not respond to the report about the veto of Pacaembu in Paulistão.
Allegra Pacaembu stated that it “worked with public bodies to successfully obtain all licenses for the five football test events that were held with the public present at the Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu, and it will be no different for the Copinha final” .
The City of São Paulo said that it is analyzing a request for an authorization permit for a temporary event in Pacaembu, but that the operating permit for meeting places is conditional on the “completion of the works”.
The minimum mandatory requirements that must be included in technical reports to inspect the safety conditions of stadiums used in sports competitions are governed by an ordinance from the Ministry of Sports, regulating the General Sports Law.
In the list of documents required for stadiums with more than 10 thousand seats, as is the case of Pacaembu, the “operating license” appears as mandatory for the issuance of three of the four required reports: the safety report; preventing and combating fire and panic; and engineering, accessibility and comfort.
The regulations that govern all FPF competitions, including the Copinha, require an operating license for all stadiums. It also says that clubs must present the mandatory reports in accordance with the aforementioned ordinance from the Ministry of Sports.
To obtain the permit, Allegra first needs the Definitive Term of Acceptance of Works. The document is provided by the city hall when the mandatory works provided for in the Pacaembu concession contract are completed.
The concessionaire informed the city that it had completed these works on June 27, but an inspection on July 26 noted that several of the mandatory works were still being carried out.
To the press, at the time, the city hall said that it “identified the need for complements and corrections to the mandatory works that must be carried out within a period of up to 90 days”, as provided for in the concession. A new inspection, however, only took place on December 9, 120 days later.
Since then, according to Ricardo Nunes (MDB) management, “the technical report is being prepared”. There is no deadline in the concession contract for submitting this report.
According to the city hall, “the delays are already characterized and the respective sanctions, according to the concession contract, will be applied after the final acceptance of the mandatory works”. The municipal management, however, does not say when the delay will start to count.
The concessionaire was initially supposed to implement the intervention program by the deadline of October 24, 2022, three years after receiving the stadium from the city hall.
In July 2021, however, Allegra asked the city hall to review the contract, alleging delays in issuing permits, and created its “own understanding regarding the contractual milestones and their schedules”, according to a report from the TCM (Court of Auditors of the Municipality).
Allegra considers that the deadline for the end of the works is June 29, 2024, and therefore announced its completion two days earlier. The TCM says that this deadline is not “in any technical document related to the processes related to the topic”.
The daily fine provided for in the contract is 0.5% of Allegra’s revenue in the previous year. If the count starts on June 29th, as the dealership argues, this Wednesday (15th) the delay reached its 200th day, which means a fine of 100% of Allegra’s revenue in 2023.
Pacaembu held test events with games from amateur tournaments, which are not subject to the General Sports Law and FPF regulations, with the exception of the women’s Cup final, in December, which received an audience of less than 3 thousand people.
When contacted, the FPF did not answer why it held the match (final of the Women’s Cup) without the necessary reports, contrary to its regulations.
