A court in Rio de Janeiro has ordered the dismissal of Ednaldo Rodrigues, President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), over issues with the legality of his employment agreement.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, declared Rodrigues’s contract “null and void,” citing that one of the signatories was mentally unfit to sign the document, raising concerns of “possible forgery.”
Rodrigues, the first black president of the CBF, was first suspended in 2023 after irregularities were found in his 2022 election. He was later reinstated by a Supreme Court judge after FIFA and South American football body CONMEBOL warned Brazil could face suspension from international competitions for allowing political interference in football matters.
The latest court decision could once again put Brazilian football at risk of FIFA sanctions.
Rodrigues had been leading high-profile negotiations to appoint Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti as the national team’s head coach — a deal that initially collapsed but was finalized this week, with Ancelotti replacing former France coach Zinedine Zidane.
Despite being re-elected in March 2025 to serve until 2030, Rodrigues now faces removal following the court’s ruling.
Speaking earlier at a FIFA meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay — just hours before the judgment — Rodrigues expressed confidence in the validity of his contract, saying he had “absolute certainty” of its legality.
It remains unclear how FIFA and CONMEBOL will respond, but the ruling raises fresh uncertainty over leadership at the top of Brazilian football.
