The Rio club declared official mourning for the doctor’s death and offered the club’s Salão Nobre to hold the wake
Doctor Celso Barros, who was vice-president of Unimed Rio during the period in which the company was a sponsor of the club, between 1999 and 2014, died this Saturday (15). Celso was also a pre-candidate for president of the club in the election scheduled for the 29th. The cause of death was a heart attack.
The Rio club declared official mourning for the death of Celso Barros and offered the club’s Salão Nobre to hold the wake. “Always in love, the pediatrician lived intensely the discussion about the club’s fate. He remained active in Fluminense politics and was, at this moment, a pre-candidate for president for the next three years”, says an excerpt from the note released by the club.
Doctor and pediatrician, Celso Corrêa de Barros was director of the Doctors’ Union, advisor to the Regional Council of Medicine of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Cremerj) and director of the Brazilian Medical Association.
He gained greater visibility in football as president of Unimed during the period in which the company sponsored Fluminense, between 1999 and 2014. During this period, the club left Series C of the Brazilian Championship, won the Copa do Brasil in 2007 and the Brazilian Championship titles in 2010 and 2012, in addition to Cariocas in 2002, 2005 and 2012.
The partnership also had some struggles against relegation, such as in 2009, when the team managed to save in an unlikely way. The partnership ended in trouble in 2014, during the company’s serious financial crisis.
Even after the end of the partnership between Unimed and Fluminense, the doctor continued to be an important presence in the club’s political life. He was elected vice-president alongside Mário Bittencourt, current president. The two fell out politically in their first term and the doctor switched to the opposition.
A month ago, Celso Barros announced his candidacy alongside Rafael Rolim, lawyer and candidate for president in the last elections, as vice general on the ticket.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
