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Inside Santos' political chessboard ahead of the presidential election

As the end of the current president Marcelo Teixeira’s term approaches, the political backstage at Santos is starting to heat up.

After a period of turbulence and protests over the statute rules, potential candidates are already beginning to organize their campaigns for the election that will take place at the end of this year.

Because of this, ge detailed the current political landscape at Vila Belmiro, the approved rules, and the names expected to compete for control of the club.

A victory for the fans in the statute rules

The main recent controversy involved the eligibility rules for the presidency. The committee responsible for the new statute had proposed that, in order to run, an interested candidate would need to have served at least two terms as a club board member. The measure sparked strong dissatisfaction and protests from the fans.

Last week, the Deliberative Council backed down and approved keeping the current rule: to run for the Santos presidency, it is enough to have been an uninterrupted club member for 10 years. The decision directly meets the demands made during the demonstrations held on the voting days.

The pre-candidates and the political maneuvering

Internal expectations are that the election will feature at least three groups in the race. See how the main factions are moving:

Marcelo Teixeira’s silence: The current president has not yet confirmed whether he will seek reelection or support another name from his political group. This mystery, however, is a trademark of Teixeira. In the 2023 election, he officially launched his candidacy only 23 days before the vote.

Ivan Luduvice’s opposition: The lawyer, who ran as Ricardo Agostinho’s vice-presidential candidate in 2023 (finishing in fourth place), is already positioning himself as a pre-candidate. Luduvice has been actively using his social media to criticize the current administration and gather support.

The Maruca-Marino alliance: The second- and third-place finishers in the 2023 election (Maurício Maruca and Rodrigo Marino, respectively) decided to join forces. Together, they received 2,451 votes in the last election. In a recent interview, Marino confirmed the partnership and said the ticket already has a structured plan with strong financial and administrative planning to rebuild the club.

When will the election be?

The date of the vote is still uncertain. Traditionally, Santos elections take place on the second weekend of December.

However, the Deliberative Council approved a change in the text of the new statute bringing the vote forward to the third weekend of October. For this new date to take effect this year, the following steps still need to be completed:

Approval of the remaining articles of the new statute by the Council.

Final approval of the document at a General Assembly of members.

A specific vote by the board members to decide whether the date change will already apply in 2026 or only starting in 2029.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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