Leila Pereira, president of Palmeiras, intends to present to Brazilian clubs a proposal for everyone to leave Conmebol (South American Football Confederation) and join Concacaf (North, Central and Caribbean Confederation). The movement would be a response in the face of the lack of harsher punishments for cases of racism frequently recorded in South America.
Although the idea can also be interpreted as a way to press the entity responsible for organizing tournaments such as Libertadores and the South American Cup, the possibility is foreseen in confederations statutes, including FIFA (International Football Federation), and has jurisprudence.
For a team to join a continental confederation outside their geographical region the first step has to be taken by the national federation of their country. In the case of Brazilians, the transition would have to start from the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation).
In this case, it would not only be the clubs that would leave Conmebol. The Brazilian team would also have to leave the South American qualifiers and would fight with Concacaf selections for a place in the World Cups.
All this, however, must be authorized by FIFA, as provided for in the current status of the entity. “FIFA can, under exceptional circumstances, authorize a confederation granting affiliation to an association that belongs geographically to another continent and is not affiliated with the Confederation on that continent. The opinion of the geographically involved confederation must be obtained.”
There are a number of criteria to be taken into account, especially the motivation for the request. There are examples of accepted proposals, such as Australia and Israel, each for different reasons.
The Israelis vie for European qualifiers and their clubs vie for UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) competitions because of conflicts in the Middle East.
In the case of Australians, the country’s federation requested the change of Oceania Football Confederation to the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) in search of more competitiveness for the team.
Alternatively, Brazilian clubs could stop playing Conmebol’s competitions and seek invitations to compete for Concacaf tournaments, such as the Champions Cup.
It was therefore, for example, that Mexican clubs disputed Libertadores from 1998 to 2016.
Even through invitations, however, clubs would still need FIFA authorization, which has already rejected similar requests.
With or without discharge, Leila Pereira has been working behind the scenes to change punishments for cases of racism. His motivation began after striker Luighi of the Palmeiras under-20 team was the target of racial injury during a match against Cerro Porteño, Paraguay, for Libertadores of the category.
During the confrontation, fans of the rival team made gestures imitating monkey in the direction of the Brazilian. One of them, near the grid that divided the field of the stands, held a child on his lap. The match, valid for the quarterfinals, was not paralyzed at the time.
The episode united Brazilian clubs, including Palmeiras historical rivals, such as Corinthians and São Paulo, to press Conmebol for harsher punishments to the Paraguayan team, fined $ 50,000 (R $ 289 thousand).
“If you delay [para ir ao campo] It’s $ 100,000. There are 78,000 to light up flag. See how Conmebol faces the crime of racism. It’s absurd, “criticized Leila Pereira, president of Palmeiras.
It was in the face of this situation that Leila suggested leaving Conmebol.
“Since Conmebol cannot curb this type of crime [racismo]can not treat Brazilians with the size that clubs represent to Conmebol, why not think about joining concacaf? Only then will they respect Brazilian football. It’s something to think about, “he said.
