Although Corinthians guaranteed a huge prize pool of around R$98 million for their victorious campaign towards their fourth Copa do Brasil title, the largest portion of the amount will be consumed by debts. THE Sheet located more than R$57 million in 36 protests against the team carried out in registry offices across the country until the first half of December.
The financial situation of the association is very bad. According to balance sheets presented by Brazilian teams this year, Corinthians is at the top of the list of most indebted clubs in the country, with a debt of around R$2.7 billion. When contacted, the team did not comment until this publication.
The main creditor in the registry offices is the National Treasury, which accounts for 99% of the disputed amount. On September 23, the Attorney General’s Office of the National Treasury registered a certificate of active debt against Corinthians in the amount of R$39 million relating to a debt with the Union.
On November 21st, the Treasury made another ten protests at different registry offices, totaling another R$17 million, due to the lack of withholding of different taxes that should be passed on to the Federal Revenue Service and other mandatory federal contributions.
Then a garbage collection company appears, to which Corinthians owes R$35,000. The 12 protests were held in the months of June and July. The third creditor is a diagnostic medicine company, with a protest filed in July in the amount of R$13,000.
Other creditors include communication companies, packaging companies and banks. The protest for the lowest amount, R$145, was presented on June 21st by the Government of São Paulo, for an unpaid court fee.
“When you think that the club has to decide what it will pay and what it will not pay, it decides to pay the player’s salary, but not the supplier. And the supplier is the one who guarantees the club’s day-to-day operation. This is typical of clubs that will be financially strangled at a given moment, with revenue garnishment, account blocking”, said Amir Somoggi, director of consultancy Sports Value.
Even if the costs related to the construction of the stadium in Itaquera are excluded, the remaining balance of R$1.9 billion has grown consistently since 2014 “and is characterized by a recurring behavior of not paying taxes and labor charges”, pointed out economist César Grafietti, partner at consultancy Convocados.
Of this amount, around R$1 billion are late salaries and charges, in addition to tax agreements and installments for income tax, INSS and FGTS. “These are values that have grown over time in a premeditated way: what you cannot pay is contracted, at a cost of at least 15% per year in interest. In other words, the problem was created by the club, over several mandates.”
The result of this is a club that is not able to pay current expenses, nor those that have been renegotiated, said Grafietti. “In the end, creditors start to use the tools available to try to receive payment for the service provided, further impacting the club’s situation. What started as a snowball has now turned into an avalanche, with serious consequences for the club’s future.”
The economist stated that Corinthians’ total debt represents around 2.5 times the club’s annualized revenue. “Corinthians did not reach these numbers by chance. They were built through management that never worried about the club’s future,” said Grafietti.
Somoggi, from Sports Value, recalls that the origin of the financial hole in which Corinthians finds itself is, in large part, linked to the construction of the Neo Química Arena, completed in 2014, at a cost of approximately R$1 billion.
“During this period, bank interest grew a lot in Brazil. Today we are talking about 15% of the CDI. So, the money that the club makes at the box office goes all to the fund destined to pay for the stadium”, said Somoggi, remembering that Corinthians still has an outstanding amount of around R$700 million just relating to the stadium.
More than a decade after the stadium hosted the opening of the World Cup, despite payment of installments over the years, the debt with Caixa did not fall as the club projected due to interest, corrections and charges, caused by delays in repaying the financing.
“The issue is that Corinthians spends as if it were a healthy club, whereas today it is completely financially strangled,” said the consultant — just considering the year 2025, the club projects a loss of around R$270 million.
Somoggi added that Corinthians needs to spend as little as possible at the moment to be able to balance itself financially, or else it will have to resort to the option of becoming a SAF (Sociedade Anônima de Futebol). “If the team does not reduce costs drastically and balance its finances, the tendency will be for SAF to save the club.”
With notorious cash flow problems, the board is trying to balance short-term obligations to breathe in 2026. One of the urgent needs is to pay around R$40 million to Santos Laguna, from Mexico, for the hiring of Félix Torres. Due to the failure to acquire the Ecuadorian defender, the black and white club was punished by FIFA (International Football Federation) with a “transfer ban” and is prevented from registering players.
The report was produced in partnership with Google. Folha collected certificates from notary offices that are available for consultation on the Pinpoint tool. See all collections here.
