Caixa's president, Pedro Guimarães, confirmed in an interview with o Globo that the bank will no longer sponsor professional football clubs. Guimarães assumed the command of the institution with a discourse to reduce expenses and better target resources. For him, professional teams are able to obtain sponsorship from the private sector and, therefore, Caixa's focus should be on the basic categories of several sports in needy communities.
"In the case of professional football clubs, they do not need Caixa. So much that several of them have already obtained other sponsorships (after the closure of the contract with Caixa). We will honor all contracts, but they will not be renewed. Private entities can take the role of Caixa without disturbances,” explained the president of the entity.
Among the teams that have received funds from Caixa in recent years are Flamengo, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineiro, Bahia, Ceará, Fortaleza and Goiás.
He said the new guideline will cause the bank to reduce how much it spends with sponsorship, a sum that exceeds today R$ 150 million (US$35m). Guimarães did not say what the new amount would be, but gave examples of what will be Caixa's focus from now on.
The bank will continue, for example, to finance the Paralympic sports, where, according to him, there is no private sector participation. Caixa has just concluded an agreement for the purchase of 15 seats for Paralympic basketball players in a social project of Acre. "Caixa's goal is grassroots sport, it is supporting poor communities in all 27 states in Brazil."
Guimarães said there is still no project in Rio, but he praised initiatives such as the Reação project by Olympic medalist Flávio Canto, which offers judo classes in communities like Rocinha and Cidade de Deus.
Source: GMB / O Globo
