Corinthians faces a judicial intervention request from the São Paulo Public Ministry amid a severe institutional and financial crisis, ESPN Brazil reported.
Prosecutors from the Public Ministry’s Public and Social Heritage Prosecutor’s Office are conducting the investigation.
The impending civil public action stems from an inquiry established in December 2025, Estadão reported. The investigation examines internal governance inefficiencies, administrative acts harming club assets, and budget imbalances driven by mounting debt.
The probe paused following a club challenge before the Superior Council of the Public Ministry of São Paulo authorized its resumption in May 2026, according to Estadão. Prosecutors evaluated records, complaints, public data, and statements from club professionals over approximately six months.
If the court accepts the request, a judge will appoint a temporary administrator to oversee emergency management and audit all active contracts, Estadão reported. The legal move is expected before the club’s presidential election scheduled for November 28, Estadão reported.
In April 2025, the Deliberative Council rejected the 2024 financial statements, which showed a deficit of R$ 181.8 million and rising liabilities, Times Brasil reported. The total debt later reached R$ 2.7 billion, according to Times Brazil.
Political instability intensified after former president Augusto Melo signed a three-year, R$ 360 million sponsorship contract with VaideBet at the start of his term, Times Brasil reported. The Deliberative Council approved Melo’s removal on May 26, 2025, and association members confirmed his impeachment on August 9, 2025, Times Brasil reported. Osmar Stabile then assumed the presidency, inheriting ongoing administrative pressures, Times Brasil reported.
Carlos Rátis, who served as a court-appointed interventor at Bahia in 2013 after members reported administrative irregularities, explained the operational scope of such measures to ESPN Brazil.
“I start from three premises. The intervention process is exceptional because it prevails not only at the level of political and administrative organization, but also within the scope of public administration and private law for non-intervention,”
Carlos Rátis, former interventor at Bahia, told ESPN Brazil.
The Public Ministry’s evaluation indicates the judicial intervention request will not automatically affect the upcoming election due to a lack of concrete evidence proving electoral fraud, Estadão reported. Meanwhile, Corinthians has sought judicial recovery measures to block outside intervention, UOL reported.
Judicial intervention measures require immediate action programs for judicial and public scrutiny, according to Rátis.
“Procedurally, it works like this: the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which will be the plaintiff in the action, must establish requests to justify the intervention process, but it must also request, based on the situation it presents, that the intervention immediately include an action plan to be analyzed by the court itself and by the wider public.”
Rátis told ESPN Brazil.
The Public Ministry of São Paulo is expected to file the civil public action prior to the November 28, 2026 presidential election, pending final judicial review and approval, Estadão reported.
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