Former vice-president of Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos at the FPF (São Paulo Football Federation), Wilson Marqueti Júnior tries to transform the rupture with his old ally into an electoral platform to present himself as an alternative to the current management.
After leaving office accusing Bastos of authoritarianism and lack of dialogue, Marqueti started working behind the scenes looking for club directors who are also unhappy with the current president.
He claims that he has already found voices, including from one of the four big clubs, but does not reveal his support until he confirms his ticket. “The clubs still haven’t allowed me [divulgar]”, he said to Sheet.
With a speech of renewal, defense of greater representation and criticism of the “concentration of power in a few hands”, Marqueti tries to prevent Bastos from remaining in office for another four years. He has held the chair since 2015.
Without having held executive positions in sport, Marqueti defends his candidacy based on his experiences in the legal area of sport, especially as attorney general of the TJD-SP (Sports Court of Justice).
The election will take place this year, but the date has not yet been set.
What motivated you to run for president of the São Paulo Football Federation?
I spent practically 12 years in the federation. I entered the Court of Sports Justice, as a commission attorney. Then I worked my way up until I became attorney general. My tenure ended in June last year. In August, I was invited by the current president to be vice president of government and institutional relations at the federation. As I like football and work a lot in the area of sports rights, I decided to accept. But what happened? Right from the start, as I was in court, I checked the clubs’ pain points, their needs, and I had several ideas and projects that we could take to the president, to the management, to change certain actions of the federation itself, but I found that I couldn’t implement anything. The projects were not accepted, they were not discussed.
Did you have a specific allegation for the refusals?
The allegation was that my role as government vice-president involved relationships with authorities, relationships with public authorities. But, being vice-president, I wanted to bring changes, I wanted to bring to the current management the things that I saw were not working and that I wanted to change.
In an interview with Mônica Bergamo, Mr. accused the current president of the FPF of having an authoritarian management.
Management is completely authoritarian and centralized in the president. Even for clubs there is a barrier to trying something different. And the last straw was that I later learned that there was a statutory change, in the middle of an accounting approval meeting, to change to yet another re-election, authorizing yet another re-election of the current president.
Previously, only one re-election was allowed.
That. But, in fact, the current administration will complete ten years because it stayed two years longer, right? The current president was vice-president of Marco Polo Del Nero. When Marco Polo went to the CBF, he still had two years left in his term. He [Reinaldo Carneiro] He added two, then there was four more and four more. In his last election, he gave a speech saying it would be his last, thanking everyone. Then I was surprised that there was a change in statute, allowing for another re-election. I, as deputy, was in the line of succession. And I was not notified.
Were there any changes to the rules for scheduling the election?
The election must be held in 2026, but there is no deadline. And the president sets the date. Can a person have this power to mark the election in which they are running? All of this has to be changed.
Mr. Do you have support from clubs that share the same opinion?
For me, it was a surprise, because at first it is very difficult to break a paradigm. And I’m talking to several clubs and noticing dissatisfaction regarding this, regarding this continuity.
Does this dissatisfaction come from clubs in the capital, especially the big ones, or does it echo more in the interior of the state?
I think there are different goals. Big clubs have certain objectives, country clubs have other objectives. It depends on each club. But even in the big clubs, with which I have spoken, I have spoken to practically everyone, I see dissatisfaction with the direction of the federation.
Mr. Do you have support from any of the big clubs?
The support already exists, but the clubs still haven’t allowed me [divulgar]because it is something very new.
Is there support from at least one of the state’s big clubs, Corinthians, Palmeiras, São Paulo and Santos?
Yes definitely.
A report published by UOL states that his candidacy has the support of Marco Polo Del Nero, former president of the FPF and also of the CBF, currently banned from football. Mr. Do you have or would you like to count on his support?
This statement came as a surprise to me. He [Reinaldo Carneiro] He was vice-president of Marco Polo and later was one of the vice-presidents of the CBF. So it was a surprise [Reinaldo] link my name as a possible candidacy supported by Doctor Marco Polo. What exists is what? There is no candidacy yet, we are not yet in the electoral period. Now, of course, Doctor Marco Polo has the right to support whoever he wants. I am in no way denying anyone’s support. But this situation that was presented in this report, saying that it is Marco Polo’s candidacy, it is a candidacy supported by men, that does not exist.
If you have this support, even behind the scenes, Mr. Will you accept?
I don’t know if Doctor Marco Polo is actually in football, because I haven’t heard his name linked to football anymore. I don’t know what his connection would be and what his support would be, because, as far as I know, Doctor Marco Polo is away. I respect Doctor Marco Polo, I also respect the current president, you will never see me speak ill of the person, because it is not a question here of a disagreement between people.
Among the clubs that decided to support your possible candidacy, what was the main reason reported by them?
There is a situation today: São Paulo football has lost some of its prominence in national football. We see this in the federation’s distance from the CBF. There is this distance, and there is a lack of representation within the CBF. The big clubs are feeling this situation.
How is this lack of representation reflected in practice?
Representativeness, for example, is seen in the table itself [dos campeonatos]in the organization, in the dates.
What is your opinion on the changes recently made by the CBF in the organization of the Brazilian football calendar?
São Paulo clubs are complaining. It’s a situation that has really gotten bad. The Campeonato Paulista decreased a lot. And what is the federation’s role in this regard? What did the federation do? I didn’t check anything.
Mr. Do you have a project for the calendar?
We have to sit down and talk to the CBF. The current president [Samir Xaud] started recently, had the courage and dynamism to change, create a new calendar. He’s starting a new job. It’s the new one. That’s what we want here, a new one.
Cases of racism in Brazilian football are increasingly common, including in youth games. What project are you? have to combat racism and other forms of discrimination?
It can’t just be a punitive situation. We need to identify these people and try to understand why they did a certain type of act, where this comes from. These are crimes, and today there is a specialized football police station. Now, awareness has to come from below.
Mr. Are you in favor of measures such as single crowds in classics? We need to try to change this. To change, the federation has to talk to public bodies. Now, simply, there is accommodation. Here in São Paulo we don’t talk about that anymore. I don’t know what each club’s individual position is, because this single fan situation is actually taboo.
X-ray | Wilson Marqueti Júnior, 58
FPF’s institutional and government relations vice-president during part of Reinaldo Carneiro’s second term, he left the position in August 2025, breaking with the president. He has a degree in law, working in the business, corporate, banking, labor, commercial, family and sports areas. He was attorney general of the Court of Sports Justice of the State of São Paulo and president of the Court of Sports Justice of Basketball of São Paulo.
