Since the end of 2025, only Banco Master has been talked about. The Brazilian media has prioritized this case, due to the broad political and economic aspects and the extensive developments.
Relevant (and boring) subject, and what interests this column is knowing two things: 1) did the Master scandal affect football in what way? and 2) what can football learn from this?
There were splashes at Corinthians and Palmeiras. The understanding, however, is that it was not something that immediately affected, and does not tend to affect, the day-to-day activities of both teams.
At the black and white club, the problem does not involve players, the coaching staff or the rest of the staff, but rather the Itaquerão stadium. The fund that manages the financial resources related to the arena stopped operating after its manager (Reag, involved with irregularities at Master) had its liquidation ordered by the Central Bank.
Thus, suppliers (who work in security and cleaning, for example, of the arena) were no longer paid with the amount that was in the now locked fund, with Corinthians having to resort to other sources to pay off these obligations.
Temporarily, the club’s cash flow is affected. Resources need to be reallocated until there is an unlock, with the appointment by the CVM (Securities Commission) of a new manager to manage the fund.
Until now, the Corinthians team continues to play there normally, with the traditional support of Fiel, without any known impact.
At the Alviverde club, there was the loss of a relevant sponsor, with the termination of the contract with Fictor, due, according to the club, to “contractual breach” and the “request for judicial recovery made by the group”.
Fictor, a conglomerate that has companies in various areas of activity (food, real estate, energy, agribusiness, financial services), announced in November the purchase of Master, but the deal did not prosper because the Central Bank ordered the bank’s extrajudicial liquidation.
The news generated a reputational crisis at Fictor, with a mass flight of investors, causing another liquidity crisis, which culminated in a request for judicial recovery this month.
Result: R$25 million to R$30 million less per year for Palmeiras from this source, which is directly reflected in budget planning. The club will have to go to the market looking for a replacement.
These are monetary scratches on the teams with the greatest rivalry in São Paulo, protagonists of the Derby. They do not lead to ICU care, but should help managers take precautions to avoid deep wounds.
It is known that Brazilian clubs do not have due concern with governance, compliance and due diligence, terms that are foreign to sports news. In short: implement preventive measures and practices that can mitigate risks, taking the Master case as a warning.
In the current Brazilian football system, clubs are becoming increasingly dependent on funds and sponsors to play football. If the fund or sponsor has a problem, there are consequences that can be serious.
Is there a way to prevent it? You cannot predict the future, but you can perform more in-depth risk analysis. In their eagerness to raise cash to increase their competitiveness (more money means more and better reinforcements), clubs accept contracts without a thorough legal check and without planning regular and continuous audits of their “partners”.
In times when the overwhelming majority of associations find themselves dependent on funds that come from sports betting companies (bets) – regulated recently in Brazil, operating under a volatile business model, some recently created –, it is a security scenario that is beyond doubtful.
An example is that a committee in the Senate approved a project a few days ago that prohibits the sponsorship of bets by clubs.
Diversifying revenue sources, with greater balance between them, and establishing contractual protection clauses (counterparty risk) are recommended moves that could mean the difference between economic consistency and financial disaster.
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