SAF and Women's Football
Brazilian Law 14.193/21 (SAF Law) establishes, in Article 1, that "a football corporation whose main activity consists of the practice of football, both female and male, in professional competition (...) constitutes a football corporation (SAF)." The introduction of the word "and" between the adjectives feminine and masculine functions as an additive coordinating conjunction, adding one to the other.
Therefore, according to the text of the law, the SAF must practice football in both genders. Whether this practice should or may occur directly or indirectly, in isolation or in conjunction with a partner or associate, will be the subject of another article. For now, it is important to understand the origin and effects of the rules contained in the SAF Law.
The preliminary drafts and bills that gave rise to the SAF Law did not introduce gender distinctions; they only delimited the main object, consisting of football, and authorized the combination of related activities as long as they were related to (and not a substitute for) football.
The approach was not innovative compared to other legislative movements. The Zico Law (Law 8.672/93), the Pelé Law (Law 9.615/98), and the Profut Law (Law 13.155/15) also did not distinguish between male and female categories.
In the case of the SAF draft bills, it was understood that impositions, equalizations, or other policies should be addressed at the regulatory level, as they are in fact in Brazil by the CBF1.
The change in understanding occurred during the processing of Bill No. 5.516/2019, authored by Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), under the rapporteurship of Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ).
It was Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) who included the adjective and the additive coordinating conjunction. The intention was to establish a public policy aimed at recognizing the importance of women's football and providing it with the means to develop, independently of any regulatory mandates.
Since the enactment of the SAF Law in 2021, and especially on the eve of the Women's World Cup, to be held in Brazil in 2027, there seems to be no longer any doubt about the importance of public policies directed at women's sport. The question now concerns the full effectiveness of the solution contained in the SAF Law and whether there is room – or a need – for change.
The answer lies precisely in that additive coordinating conjunction.
Its inclusion in the legal text has, counterintuitively, proven to be an obstacle for any business involving only the women's game. Not because of its existence, which serves to multiply the number of active teams, but because of its necessary connection to men's football. This is because a women's football project must necessarily adapt to incorporate the men's team, even if this wasn't the initial intention. Or it must adopt a different type of company structure, such as a limited liability company or a public limited company, which will imply higher costs for structuring, managing, and maintaining the football club.
Therefore, within the SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol - Football Corporation), a project for the men's team must also include the women's team, while a project for the women's team will also include the men's team.
It seems that this was not the intention. The idea was to promote, not hinder, women's football. There are ways to resolve the situation. One of them is embodied in the Bill of Federal Deputy Sergio Santos Rodrigues (PODE-MG), which addresses various issues, but which, in its article 1, also provides for the reform of article... Article 1 of the SAF Law authorizes a combination of situations, starting with the inclusion of the expression "and/or," as per the following proposal:
"Article 1. A Football Corporation is constituted by a company whose main activity consists of the practice of football, female and/or male, or only female football, in professional competition, or whose main activities consist of those attributed to leagues constituted or organized by sports practice entities whose main activity consists of the practice of football in professional competition, subject to the specific rules of this Law and, subsidiarily, to the provisions of Law 6,404, of December 15, 1976, and Law No. 9,615, of March 24, 1998."
According to the proposal, the SAF may operate with only one gender, male or female, or both, male and female. This derives from the introduction of the expression "and/or," which encompasses additive and alternative coordinating conjunctions. The text's structure, composed of the addition of "or, even, only," does not create a fourth situation, but reinforces the possibility of autonomous practice, without the need to add the other gender.
Another path would involve a more surgical reform, to include, in addition to the existing classification, a SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol - Football Corporation) exclusively for women's football. The content would be as follows:
"Article 1. A Sociedade Anônima do Futebol is constituted by a company whose main activity consists of the practice of football, female and male, or only female, in professional competition, subject to the specific rules of this Law and, subsidiarily, to the provisions of Law 6.404, of December 15, 1976, and Law 9.615, of March 24, 1998."
As seen, the paths seek to encourage women's football, even if they may result in different consequences.
