The Reform of the SAF Law: Part II

Article 1 of Bill 2,978/23 ("Bill 2,978"), authored by Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSB/MG) – submitted on May 15, 2026, for presidential approval, after approval in the Chamber of Deputies, according to the report by Federal Deputy Fred Costa (PRD-MG) – establishes that a football corporation ("SAF") is a company (or corporation, as they are synonymous terms) whose main activity consists of the practice of football, both women's and men's, in professional competition, or leagues¹ constituted by sports entities whose main activity also consists of the practice of football in professional competition.

The novelty introduced by Bill 2,978 in the aforementioned article refers to the restoration of the possibility for any leagues, existing or to be conceived for the organization and practice of football in professional competition, to adopt the form of a SAF. With this introduction, the league can be a non-profit association, an "ordinary" business corporation (public limited company or private limited company), or, as desired by the National Congress, a SAF (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol - Football Corporation).

The inclusion of the SAF is not new.

The proposal was included in Bill 5.082/16, authored by Federal Deputy Otavio Leite. It was also foreseen in Bill 5.516/2019, authored by Senator Rodrigo Pacheco, which gave rise to the SAF Law, in the following terms: "the corporate purpose of the Football Corporation may include one or more of the following activities: (...) VII – the administration, direction, regulation or organization of football and professional football competitions".

The intention was, therefore, to authorize not only the organization of leagues in the form of SAFs, but also, in a move not yet seen in Brazil – or elsewhere – the same organization of federations or confederations. The permission had not, until then, prospered, for unknown reasons.

Its inclusion in Bill 2,978 was prompted by an amendment from Senator Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) and defended, within the Chamber of Deputies, by the Rapporteur Deputy, Fred Costa, and addresses a widespread demand within the football environment.

Furthermore, it is beneficial for four main reasons.

First, by contributing to the unification of teams, notably from the first and second divisions of the Brazilian championship, around the formation of a national league which, as international examples demonstrate, should enhance image, products and services – thus generating sporting, economic and social prospects.

In fact, the importance of this formative movement has also begun to occupy the attention of the Brazilian Football Confederation - CBF, previously resistant to it, which has already held two meetings on the subject with the forty clubs of the two main divisions, and in the second meeting listed reasons that distance the Brazilian championship from the main European leagues, among them: calendar, audience and security, stadium infrastructure, retention of young talents and governance of the regulations. Generally speaking, the main European leagues are business corporations, whose partners are the teams that participate in them – with necessary fluctuations due to promotion and relegation – that (i) control the quality of the environment and the products they offer and, very importantly, (ii) establish internal rules to set standards at all levels and in all senses, in the interest of the collective.

It's no coincidence that they undertake a kind of neocolonialism through football, by inserting their brands, teams, and athletes, and dominate, in an oligopoly format, the interest of the world's football fans – relegating, for now, Brazil's importance to something close to nothing on the international stage.

Only a structured, cohesive Brazilian league, generating revenue and cash flow, and with economic aims, will be able to react and compete in the current global environment, ultimately benefiting local teams, fans, and the country itself.

The second reason lies in the league's business perspective, which will allow access to resources, including in the financial and capital markets, develop products, establish Brazilian football as a global expression, generate wealth, and consequently inaugurate a new contributory phase, unlike what has occurred since the 19th century, with various instruments of associative subsidies at the expense of society.

Assuming, then, that the Brazilian league follows the path taken by the European leagues, the relationships it will foster, on all levels, will attract taxation, and consequently, it would become a generator of wealth and expansion of the tax base.

A third reason, directed at the teams that are part of the league, involves the possibility of expanding their revenues through improved products and services, and also through surpluses generated by the league itself. Since it has an economic purpose, profits that are not reinvested and that are not part of the capital budget are, as a rule, distributed to the partners, in this case the teams themselves, thus increasing their budgets and investment capacity.

Fourth reason: a league can currently be formed for economic or non-economic purposes, in the form of an association or business corporation of any type, except for SAFs (Sociedade Anônima do Futebol - Football Corporation), whose regulations were specifically designed to organize football-related activities. The prohibition is not justified because it deprives teams of a legitimate and efficient way to reorganize Brazilian football.

From any angle of analysis, including others not expressed in this text but which are equally beneficial, there is no negativity in the formation, even if belated, of a national league of teams. Furthermore, the league is in the country's interest, for some of the reasons indicated above, and in the interest of the Brazilian State.

Therefore, restoring the permission for the league to be formed as a SAF represents an incentive for systemic improvement, due to the structure of constitution foreseen in the SAF Law, the high governance standards imposed on it, the mandatory control and transparency techniques (reinforced in Bill 2,978), and the fact that it imposes an effective regime of taxation, oversight, and collection.